


Spider Shenanigans

by Pokeevee57



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship, Funny, Gen, Humor, Keith (Voltron) as Spider-Man, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Keith is secretly a genius and no one knows, Klance hints - Freeform, Lance is a super Spiderman fan, Maybe some Deadpool!Lance if I feel like it, Pidge prefers Iron Man, Shenanigans, Spider-Man Keith, Spidey!Keith, There is actually plot, but there is also a bit of angst, i try to make it funny, it’s Tony’s, it’s not his fault he got the mullet, prompts, quite a bit AU for both fandoms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-15 09:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14788199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokeevee57/pseuds/Pokeevee57
Summary: Shiro thinks he's ok. Hunk respects him. Pidge refuses to understand the need for spandex. Allura and Coran hadn't even heard of him until now. Lance is his biggest fan. And Keith thought it was absolutely hilarious. Shenanigans ensue. Slight AU where Keith is actually Peter Parker, AKA Spider-man. Rated T for language. Series of one-shots.





	1. And So it Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for checking this out! Also, I promise it’ll be better. :P 
> 
> Enjoy!

As much Keith felt like he needed to continue doing missions with the Blade of Marmora, there comes a point where he really felt like he needed a break from almost emotionless leaders and quiet aliens.

 

Which was why he was heading back to the Castle of Lions in a borrowed ship in his casual outfit that included his favorite jacket.

 

Even though he really wanted to pull his own weight in this war, even Kolivan knew that Keith probably needed it.

 

And honestly, he was kinda looking forward to it. He hadn’t seen the others for a while now (not including the reports he and Kolivan would send in, but it didn’t count because he couldn’t really interact with anyone).

 

He was actually going to try and surprise them with his arrival. Usually, he didn’t do stuff like this, but he was in a slightly cheery mood (just don’t tell Lance that, as he’d never hear the end of it).

 

Soon, the castle came into view, and he headed for the docks. He hoped that the castle didn’t announce his arrival. That would ruin the whole point.

 

Keith was relieved to see that no one was there waiting for him, so he headed quietly towards the common room, sure he would find someone there to surprise.

 

When he heard footsteps down the hall, he pressed himself against the shadows, and the person passed him and went straight into Keith’s destination, the common room.

 

The doors stayed open as the figure, who was Shiro, walked inside to find Lance, Hunk and Pidge already talking inside.

 

Lance looked up, hearing their leader walk in. “Shiro! Quick, who’s your favorite Avenger?”

 

Shiro thought for a second. “The Hulk.”

 

Hunk looked at him quizzically. “Really? Huh, I would’ve thought it was Captain America or something. But I still think Thor’s the best. He has the coolest powers!”

 

Pidge scoffed as she looked up from her computer. “Iron Man is the best. His technology is amazing, advanced, and way ahead of its time, and he doesn’t even _need_ superpowers to save the world.”

 

Lance frowned. “Dude, hate to break it to you, but Iron Man is just some old guy wearing a tin can with a flashlight for a heart.” He then grinned. “But Spider-man… now _that’s_ a superhero.”

 

Keith almost revealed his hiding place right then and there. He just couldn’t believe the irony. Also, Spider-man wasn’t officially an Avenger or anything, but he was flattered and Lance didn’t really need to know that.

 

Pidge smirked. “For all we know, he could also be _some old guy_ under that, what was it, _spandex_.”

 

Keith pouted. He had the urge to come out and shake Pidge to her senses.

 

But he didn’t. Because he wasn’t Spider-Man right now. Just half-Galra Keith Kogane, who kept listening to the conversation.

 

Lance must have somehow read his mind though, as he pouted too. “Don’t diss his spandex! How else would he be able to swing around New York City? Armor would be _way_ too heavy.”

 

Hunk looked thoughtful. “You’re acting like you’ve met the guy, Lance.”

 

“Well… not exactly. Anyways, I still think Spider-man is the greatest. I mean, he-“

 

Keith decided to leave, right then. Couldn’t listen to them forever without risking being caught.

 

He walked towards his room, thinking.

 

He still couldn’t believe it. Lance looked _up_ to him. Well, to Spider-Man, but that was still him, in a sense.

 

That’s it. His teammates deserved it. He would do it.

 

He just hoped he wouldn't get caught.

 

* * *

 

Lance could not believe the words coming out of his team’s mouths.  

 

How could Spider-man _not_ be the most amazing person ever?

 

He saved so many people, innocent or not, just because they were just that. _People._ Not because they were particularly good or important, but because they human.

 

Even if they were villains, he still saved them too, because they were also human underneath all that evil.

 

Because Spider-Man actually _cared._

 

So he secretly hoped he could be like that one day.

 

Behind him, the doors opened. Wondering who came in, he looked.

 

And boy did he look.

 

Because standing there was none other than the amazing Spider-man himself.

 

_Who waved at them._

 

“I heard my name. Did someone call?”

 

Oh shit.

 

OH SHIT.

 

Spider-man was in their castle. Standing right in front of him.

 

Too many thoughts went through his head, but he wasn’t able to grasp any of it. In fact, he barely registered Shiro take a step forward towards the hero.

 

“Who are you?”

 

Spider-man replied in his light, loose voice. “Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-man, coming at you live! Or, more like in the flesh! Actually, that doesn’t even work does it?” His tone was playful.

 

Lance couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle as he stepped forward too. But he still could not believe his eyes. Was that really him? “Spider-man! Wow, what are you doing here?”

 

The hero laughed. “Well, I heard I had some fans up here in space. Usually, I would find that hard to believe, since the last ones I met hated my guts. They seriously deserved it after they destroyed my favorite hot dog cart though…” He muttered that last part under his breath, though Lance was able to hear it due to the somewhat close proximity.

 

“Anyway, I hadn’t really gone up into space all that much, so I thought ‘eh, why not?’ Because if I legit had a fan out here, that would be, like, the coolest thing ever.”

 

Pidge scoffed from her place on the couch. “‘Eh, why not?’! Really, aliens are fascinating, many with very different biological structures than our own, but also with many similarities in our genetic makeups. Space is filled with technology far beyond our own, and it is filled with creatures that can boggle the human mind. Who wouldn’t want to go to space?”

 

“Oh, looks like I found the resident genius, complete with glasses. Anyways, are you all fans of me too?”

 

Hunk laughed. “Yeah, but not as much as Lance. He’s a big fan of yours.” He pointed.

 

Lance grinned. “Yeah, and these guys think that _Iron Man_ is better than you.”

 

Spider-man put his hand to his heart and dramatically gasped, feigning betrayal. “How _dare_ you! Of course I’m better than him. He doesn’t even _compare_ to my dashingness!”

 

Pidge smirked. “Yeah, well it’s not like we can see your face to prove it.”

 

“You know I can’t because, you know, secret identity and all that jazz. Just take my word for it though, k?”

 

Hunk raised his hand, stopping the conversation and getting everyone’s attention. “It’s really amazing that you’re here and all, but how did you even get here? Isn’t it, like, a million light years from Earth or something?”

 

Everyone was actually curious. How _did_ Spider-man get here from Earth? They looked at him.

 

“Well, I-”

 

At that moment, the alarms went off. Allura’s accented voice echoes over them, laced with urgency. “Paladins, one of the coalition planets is under attack! To your lions!”

 

Lance looked at Shiro, who nodded. Everyone ran out of the room, though Lance stopped in front of his hero for a moment. “Sorry, but it looks we have to go. We’ll see you when we get back!”

 

He didn’t look back after that, determined to save the day.

 

* * *

 

Keith stood there after they left, sighing. “Don’t know how I would’ve answered that one…”

 

He took a seat on the couch and started to think.

 

First off… Lance’s face was absolutely _priceless_ , with his starry eyes and huge grin. He enjoyed that bit that most.

 

To be honest, Keith hadn’t put on the Spider-man suit in _forever_. And he wasn’t that comfortable cracking jokes in front of others. He didn’t mind it that much when he had the mask on though, because it’s not like they know it’s him then.

 

He felt like he could actually relax as the spider-themed hero. If he embarrassed himself, it was fine, because _they don’t know_.

 

Keith didn’t know what to do now. Right now, he could just go back to his room, change back into his actual clothes, and be done with it, his team none the wiser. Things would be back to normal. Well, as normal as it could ever be.

 

On the other hand…. he hadn’t had a chance to do this for a long time. Before, Spider-man was a huge part of his life. Heck, it might’ve been _most_ of his life. But since he started going to the Garrison, his costume had lied there, in the bottom of his backpack, untouched.

 

And now… he knew he wouldn’t get another chance. The way home was unknown, and he was sure nobody knew of Spider-man here. And he still wasn’t going to tell Team Voltron.

 

First reason: He just didn’t want the others to know more about his life than they needed to. Lance would probably brag to anyone he saw anyway.

 

Second: If the Galra or some other enemy figured out that Earth was more of a threat, they might see it as enough to go to the planet. And that scared him a little because, while he usually was a loner, he still had people there that cared for him (for some reason).

 

Third: He wanted to have the upper hand. Nobody knew of his powers, so even if a member of Voltron was compromised (though he hated to think it), he could still have something over them to help the rest out. Plus, if he was ever captured, he could probably escape a regular cell.

 

This was the best way he could be useful to team. It really was.

 

So maybe he could be Spider-man a little longer. He smiled. Just for a little bit though.

 

* * *

 

Lance sighed as he sat in the Red Lion’s cockpit, back at the castle after the mission. They had barely made it in time to stop a Galran ion cannon from hitting the main city. There were a lot of fighters there, and the team had been stretched in order to fight them all. Luckily, they were finally able to beat the enemy after a varga. A whole _varga_. That was too long.

 

Now, Lance was free to relax as the battle was over. He was tempted to slunk down in his seat, but he knew he would just have to get up anyways. He groaned as he stood up, not quite willing to do anything else.

 

Groggily, he walked to the common room where he was sure the others were heading to after a battle well-fought. He almost didn’t acknowledge the other person sitting in there. He gave a small wave while yawning. “Hey, Spider-man.”

 

He sat down on the opposite couch before he realized what he had just said. He quickly turned his head to the superhero, now wide-awake. “Woah! Spider-man, you’re still here?!”

 

The hero nodded. “Yep! Figured I’d wait for you guys, but seriously, that felt so long. Is that how New York feels when I’m saving them from a supervillain?”

 

Lance shook his head. “Nah, you get rid of them pretty quick. As for me, on the other hand…” he sighed. “I feel like I hardly contribute to anything on this team. It’s usually them saving me when I should be helping them save the world.”

 

And that was true. Even on their most current mission, he had been surrounded, and Shiro and the others had to go save him. Shiro insisted that it was because he was the one doing the most damage to the enemy so they wanted to get rid of him first, but Lance didn’t really believe it.

 

He was only the goofball, after all.

 

Spider-man tilted his head at him. “You get to save the universe? Man, that is _so_ awesome! I mean, I’d personally love to, but _someone’s_ gotta protect Earth from car thieves and cat burglars, you know? So then tell me,” he leaned in. “How _does_ one save the galaxy?”

 

Lance looked at the expectant hero, and he couldn’t help but smile as he recounted the events that led them to Voltron and after.


	2. The Mullet Origins: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why does Keith have a mullet anyways? Surely he didn't do it because he wanted to… right? ...Tony started it, in his defense.
> 
> AU where there was a Civil War, but everyone is ok with each other now? I just want Peter to freak out about meeting the Avengers, ok? 
> 
> ...Also, because I never watched Civil War, so I don’t have much of an idea of what happened anyways xD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, I forgot the disclaimer last chapter, so here you go:
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Voltron: Legendary Defender or Spider-man.

So I bet you’re wondering: how did Peter Parker - the fashionable web-slinging superhero - get something as horrendous as a mullet?

 

Well… it went something like this.

 

Tony Stark, being the billionaire he was, had an amazing tower. Like, so amazing, you couldn’t even _imagine_ how amazing it was until you saw it with your own eyes.

 

Which Peter did. And he could hardly believe what his eyes were seeing. _So this is what it’s like to be rich._

 

Peter wanted to be rich now. Not like he didn’t want to be rich before, but still. Even more now.

 

Anyway, Tony had let him into the Tower to meet the other Avengers. As if going into the amazing tower wasn’t enough, he also got to meet the Avengers inside said tower. The _Avengers_.

 

Sure, he’d kinda met some of them before, but it had been kind of a rushed meeting… because, you know, he was pretty much busy _fighting_ them.

 

He still couldn’t believe he had gotten Cap’s shield. And toppled Ant-Man like he was an AT-AT in Star Wars. And went face-to-face with some of the other guys while _still_ holding his own (for the most part).

 

So excuse him if he wasn’t excited. I mean, who _wouldn’t_ be?

 

The room Mr. Stark had let him into almost made Peter’s jaw drop to the ground. But it didn’t, because he actually had some self-restraint.

 

It was fancy, but it was also minimalistic. It was like a whole apartment, complete with a TV, couch, table, bar, kitchen…

 

Unfortunately, Peter did _not_ have the self-restraint to not stare. In his defense, anyone would be hard-pressed not to stare. He was sure of it.

 

Tony smirked, relishing in Peter’s amazement. “Impressed, kid? Had a feeling you would be. Who wouldn’t be impressed at something only a billionaire could afford?”

 

That only further proved Peter’s point.

 

“Kid, go ahead and sit down on the sofa over there. I’m pretty sure your pretty little head needs some time to process the awesomeness that’s me.”

 

Tony was right. He _did_ need some time to process this.

 

Unfortunately, he didn’t get enough time to.

 

Because just as he sat down, the elevator had opened, revealing a man Peter was sure he hadn’t seen before.

 

The man walked up to him. “Are you Peter?”

 

Peter nodded and took the man’s outstretched hand. His handshake was firm and strong (though not as strong as his own, he couldn’t help thinking).

 

“I’m more known as War Machine, but you can call me Rhodes.” The man now revealed as Rhodes gave him a grin.

 

Peter was flustered, pretty sure he was on the verge of showing how much he was fanboying on the inside. “I-It’s nice to meet you M-Mr. Rhodes.”

 

Oh god, he was totally embarrassing himself.

 

“Nice ta meet ya too, kid. Just Rhodey is fine though. I mean, we fought together, didn’t we, Spider-man? That’s more than enough to call you a good guy in my book.”

 

Peter could only nod, still stunned.

 

Tony walked in again. “Oh hey Rhodey, I see you met our little spider friend here. Turns out he’s a _huge_ fan of the Avengers, so try to go easy on the kid. I’m pretty sure he’s already about to start squealing.”

 

Rhodey shrugged. “Pretty sure I already broke ‘im, Tony.”

 

Tony stares at Peter’s still form. “Huh. Well that was faster than I thought he’d go.” He places his hand on Peter’s shoulder, snapping him out of his stupor. “Hey kid, snap out of it. You haven’t even met the _rest_ of them yet.”

 

Oh no. Peter was so going to make a fool of himself. Even more than he was already doing.

 

And right on cue, the rest of them walked in.

 

Yep. He was absolutely speechless.

 

There was Captain America… He was pretty sure that was Thor… He was 99% sure that was Black Widow. There was Cap’s friend… That was probably Black Panther, right? ...And oh my _god_ , was that _Bruce Banner_?!

 

Ugh, his mind could _not_ handle this. Nuh-uh. Nope. Not at all.

 

The guy he was pretty sure was Black Panther turned to Tony. “Is he okay? He seems… out of it.”

 

Black Widow looked like she was on the verge of a smirk. “He’s fine. Just shocked.”

 

Peter was able to snap out of it… eventually.

 

Black Widow looked at him. “Name’s Natasha.”

 

The Black Panther held out his hand for Peter to shake. “I am T’Challa, of the kingdom of Wakanda. Pleased to make your acquaintance…” he trailed off.

 

Peter shook his hand. “Peter. Peter Parker.”

 

T’Challa smiled. “Peter. It is very nice to meet you.”

 

Peter returned his smile. “Thanks. You too.”

 

Captain America shook his hand. “As you know, I’m Captain America, but you can call me Steve. Over there is my friend, Bucky.” He pointed to his friend, who waved briefly.

 

“It’s nice to meet you in person.” He frowned. “Although, I did think you’d be older.”

 

“Umm…”

 

Bucky interrupted him. “Don’t mind him, he’s just overprotective.”

 

“O-okay…”

 

Thor waved as well. “Ah, so you are the Man of Spiders I have heard so much about.”

 

Peter nodded. “Yeah. Thor, right?”

 

“Yes, the God of Thunder, and wielder of the mighty Mjolnir.”

 

He nodded again before Bruce Banner walked up.

 

Dr. Banner shook his hand too, but Peter was so shook. _The_ Bruce Banner. Wow.

 

“Nice to meet you, Peter. I’m Bruce Banner, but call me Bruce. Dr. Banner is too formal to me. I don’t think Tony would let you call me that anyway.”

 

Tony smirked.

 

“Heard you had quite the brain. I look forward to doing some experiments with you.”

 

Aaaand Peter was pretty sure he could never be fixed. Doing experiments. _With Bruce Banner_.

 

Wait… was he fainting? Why was he fainting?

 

Not good.

 

* * *

  

He woke up to voices.

 

_What happened?_

 

Then he opened his eyes, and he almost felt like fainting again.

 

Around him stood the Avengers, in all their glory, talking over him.

 

Steve noticed him first. “Everyone, he seems to be waking up.”

 

Oh, Peter was already awake. His idols being here had definitely taken care of _that_.

 

Tony waved, still with that smirk on his face that Peter was actually starting to get annoyed of. “Nice to see you up, Petey. Get over meeting the Avengers yet?”

 

Honestly? No. No he wasn’t. He was sure that he’d _never_ be over it.

 

“No. But I think I’m fine now. Honest.”

 

“Okay, I’ll believe you if you can get off the floor first.”

 

Getting off the floor? Oh. He guessed he was still down. He got up easily, since the shock had (mostly) worn off.

 

Bruce smiled. “Glad to see you’re alright. I thought something was wrong, but Tony was pretty sure it was from shock.”

 

Tony smirked _again_ . Peter was going to _kill_ him one day. After wiping that smirk off of his face, that is.

 

Tony, ironically, was the one to break the ice. “So! How about we do something? I never did like to stand around and exchange pleasantries, and that hasn’t changed now. Any ideas?”

 

A stomach growl answered his question. Tony clapped his hands together. “Pizza it is! Any preferences?”

 

And so they bonded over pizza. _Pizza_. Well, he guessed he shouldn’t be surprised. Pizza was the greatest of casual foods, capable of bonding even the most opposite of people.

 

So then it soon evolved into some friendly banter. Well… maybe a little _less_ than friendly.

 

At least Peter wasn’t the one in the middle of it for once.

 

However, he had terrible luck. Tony was the first to turn to him. “Pete, your hair… it’s so _generic_.”

 

Peter pouted a bit. “It is _not_. My hair is fine!”

 

“No, it’s not. Kid, like, _every other teenager_ I’ve seen has that same exact hairstyle. It ain’t doing you any favors.”

 

“Fine, if you think you’re so smart, what do _you_ think I should do, genius?”

 

“I-I don’t know! I’m just saying, even a _mullet_ would be better than what you’ve got going on right now! At least you would stand out a little more.”

 

The room became silent. Natasha’s voice was the first to break it. “A mullet, Stark? Really?”

 

Tony nodded, looking quite serious. “Yes! The kid really needs to get out there, and I’m pretty sure a mullet would be _perfect_ for grabbing the attention he needs.”

 

Steve spoke next. “A mullet? Ah, I remember those. They were quite fashionable among the younger generation.”

 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Maybe back _then_. Still… It can’t be too bad, right?”

 

Bruce scoffed. “Last time you said that, it really _was_ that bad.”

 

Tony looked at Peter again. _Oh no_. “Kid, mind growing a mullet for us? I need to prove to these guys that it can’t be worse than your hair right now.”

 

_Nope_ . “No, no way. Mullets are not popular. _At all_ . I’d probably get bullied for it! Like I don’t get bullied _enough_ …” the last part was mumbled under his breath.

 

“Come on, _please_?”

 

“There is _no_ reason I should get a _mullet_ of all things.”

 

Tony threw his hands in the air. “ _Fine_. I’ll make a deal with you. You get a mullet… and I’ll get you into the Galaxy Garrison.”

 

“Wait. The _Galaxy Garrison_?! The same Galaxy Garrison that is renowned for its advances in space travel?”

 

“The very same. I’ve got a few… connections.” A mischievous smile appeared on his face. “So. Do we have a deal?”

 

Don’t get him wrong, he wanted _so_ bad to go to the Garrison. I mean, if he was lucky enough, he could get into _space_. Like, actual space. And possibly even meet extraterrestrial life!

 

But… a _mullet_ ? Really? Like, the most unfashionable haircut in his _time_?

 

He was pretty indecisive, but…

 

His want into the Garrison won out.

 

Peter held out his hand. “Okay. We have a deal.”

 

Tony shook it, grinning, while the most of the others stared on in horror (except for Cap).

 

“A deal it is! First, grow the mullet, then we’ll talk about the Garrison.”

 

“Fine. But you better keep your promise.”

 

* * *

 

_A year later…_

 

“Congrats kid, you are now eligible to enter the Galaxy Garrison!”

 

Tony’s smirk was as annoying as ever, but it was even worse now. Especially since it was at his expense.

 

“Yeah yeah, when do I get to cut the mullet?”

 

Peter pretty much _hated_ the thing. It was hard to get under his costume, his hair kept getting in his face, and it was just so… so… _horrific_ . _No one_ wears a mullet and gets away with it.

 

Tony’s smirk only got bigger. “Oh no, you’re not getting rid of it. Not on _my_ watch. First off, you pull the look off pretty well! I thought it would be horrible, but it’s not too bad actually. Second, you’re going to have to keep it if you want to still get into the Garrison. _The whole time you’re there._ ”

 

He knew it would come to this. Screw you, Tony. “Alright, fine.”

 

“That’s the spirit!”

  
And that’s why Keith _still_ has his stupid mullet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Also, there will be more of the Mullet Origins later (even though they won’t be about his mullet lol)
> 
> Don’t forget to ask for any ideas you have for a one-shot! :)
> 
> And if you suggested an idea, I’m probably working on it right now!


	3. Spider Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gushes about Spider-man and Keith may or may not be jealous of himself.
> 
> I’m sorry, I tried to write this as a cute one, but there’s a bit of angst in there too, sorry! Bad writer, bad!
> 
> Um… and there are romantic Klance hints in here. Just saying. I probably won’t do that again, but I’m just warning you now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll probably finish any suggestions by today (I already had this chapter done a while ago).

So. Keith was back on the Castle Ship. As himself.

 

He can’t say he didn’t miss being Spider-man. He did miss it. A lot.

 

However, he knew that Kolivan would get suspicious. And then the rest of the team would get suspicious. And then he would be the suspicious one.

 

Which is never fun, he might add.

 

So now he was stuck doing training sims until Shiro forced him to stop again. 

 

He wasn’t doing… too bad. He was doing training level 7 now, which was actually kind of high according to Allura. 

 

Of course, he wasn’t using any of his powers. He knew that the simulator took note of all of the team’s abilities. So that also meant that, whoever had access to the files - whether it was through legitimate means or not - would also be able to see the strengths and weaknesses of everyone who had gone through any of the training exercises. 

 

That would include his superpowers. 

 

Even in a place that seems safe, he had to be careful. It was unfortunate, but necessary. Definitely necessary.

 

He defeated the bot with difficulty. He had accumulated quite a few scratches from it, but in the end, he beat it. He’d have to fight the gladiator a few more times to make sure he got the hang of it though.

 

“Yo, Keith!”

 

Keith turned to the entrance of the room, where Lance stood, waving.

 

“Are you busy?”

 

Was he? Not really… but he wasn’t sure what Lance wanted him for. And he almost didn’t want to find out. 

 

Almost.

 

“No, I just finished. Why?”

 

Lance pointed behind him. “Well, you’ve been at the training deck for several hours now, so I figured you might be hungry. Hunk made us something, since dinner won’t be for a while.”

 

Keith blinked. Several hours? Usually, he’d only be training for a few. Shiro would always check up on him before he could go any further than that.

 

And he  _ was  _ pretty hungry.  _ Stupid spider metabolism _ . 

 

He nodded. “Sure, I could use some food.”

 

Lance smiled. “Great, let’s go!”

 

The two Paladins walked side by side as they headed towards the kitchen. Before Lance could start talking away like he usually did, Keith needed to ask something. “By the way, where’s Shiro? Usually, I see him by now.”

 

Lance made a weird face. “I dunno. Maybe in the control room with Allura or something.”

 

Keith wasn’t surprised. When he was masquerading as Spidey, he had also noticed something off about Shiro. Something weird was going on here….

 

But right now, he had bigger things to worry about. Like food, for example. That was  _ really  _ important. Can’t live without food.

 

Lance looked at him. “So if we’re done with that, my turn! Ok, so you know how you were gone for a long while with the Blade guys? Yeah, you sorta missed kind of a lot.”

 

Yeah, no duh. He raised an eyebrow. “I mean, yeah, that makes sense. I was gone for a long time. But since you seem to want to tell me so much… What did I miss?”

 

Lance’s eyes lit up as they entered the dining hall, where there were two plates of… actually almost good-looking food.

 

He may never admit it, but Keith really did enjoy Hunk’s food. 

 

They sat down and both started to eat. However, after his first bite, Lance started to talk about what he seemed to want to talk about. Keith just kept eating.

 

“Ok, so do you remember how, back on Earth, we had superheroes? Like the Avengers?”

 

Keith nodded, taking another bite of his lunch. “Yeah.”

 

“Well you won’t believe this! Have you heard of Spider-man?”

 

Another bite. “Yeah, I’ve heard of him. What about him?” He made sure to keep his voice as emotionless as possible. He didn’t want to give away anything. 

 

“He came over to the castle and hung out with us for a while! It was  _ so  _ cool!”

 

“Really?”

 

Lance nodded vigorously. “Yep! And he was just as amazing as you may have heard! Let’s see, he has super strength, his webs, his overall stickiness to  _ everything _ …”

 

Lance kept rambling on as Keith continued to eat his lunch, only half listening at this point. 

 

“...and I would  _ totally  _ go out with him if he asked me on a date.”

 

Keith choked on his food. “ _ What _ ?!”

 

Lance looked at him in confusion. “What? He’s probably the coolest person I’ve ever met, and he’s really helped me out a lot. I really appreciate all of his awesomeness, and, to be honest… I can’t help but think he’d be so  _ hot  _ under that mask.”

 

Oh my  _ god _ . Lance had a crush on  _ Spider-man _ .

 

Oh god. 

 

Keith cleared his throat, hoping that it would clear his head as well. “W-what if he’s not hot under that mask? Then what?”

 

Lance shrugged. “Well, then it’s fine, because at least he trusted me with his identity, and that would be a real honor.”

 

He was so  _ innocent _ , it was almost cute. 

 

Lance continued. “I mean… I feel like we bonded a lot over the time he spent with the team. He was always there for us…”

 

Keith had a feeling he knew where this was going.

 

“...And no offense Keith, but he’s, like, the total  _ opposite  _ of you. He’s funny, filled with culture knowledge, has a high and bright voice, optimistic, helpful, clear-headed…”

 

“Okay Lance,  _ I get it _ ! He’s  _ way  _ better than me in every aspect.”

 

Keith couldn’t help but  _ maybe  _ feel a little jealous of Spidey. He got complimented  _ so much,  _ while Keith was just a problem to everyone. He knew he let his emotions get in the way sometimes, but…. he always tried to do what he thought best.

 

He wanted to give the excuse that Lance was just biased because he loved Spider-man to a fault.

 

But, oh god no, he was  _ totally  _ jealous of himself. 

 

Because no, he knew it wasn’t true. Spidey had maybe been the  _ best thing  _ that had happened to the team. He had seen it with his own eyes. Everyone always felt a little better when the hero was around. 

 

They trusted  _ him _ .

 

But he was pretty sure they didn’t trust Keith.

 

He was half  _ Galra  _ for god’s sake. And he had  _ left his team _ . Granted, it was for a good cause, but still. Keith knew he had let them down. 

 

He sighed as he picked at his food, no longer feeling the hunger he had felt before. There was no denying it: he might not be as welcome as he may have thought….

 

But he didn’t see Lance shake his head. “Keith… look, I know I said he was amazing and your opposite, but… that doesn’t mean that you’re  _ bad _ .”

 

Keith looked up, not really believing what Lance said, but he was willing to listen for once. He wasn’t in the mood to talk back.

 

Lance took this as his cue to continue on. “You’ve got a lot of your own strong points. First of all, by far, you’re the best pilot on this team. And that’s hard for me to admit, but it’s true. Also, your fighting skills are pretty impressive. I know you’re the only one to have made it as far as you did in the simulator.”

 

“Also, I know that you let your anger take over sometimes, but… I know you’ve just been trying your best, and honestly? I’m glad that you’re trying  _ even  _ though I may annoy you on purpose sometimes.”

 

Keith felt a small smile on his face.  _ Lance… _

 

Lance still continued, practically rambling again, talking at almost super sonic speeds. “And you got to pilot the Black Lion, which is pretty awesome too. Also, you may or may not pull off that hideous mullet of yours. And you may or may not be kind of cute when you’re as clueless as you are.”

 

Keith perked at this, not sure if he heard correctly. “What?”

 

“What?”

 

They say in silence for a while. Had that been Keith’s imagination? Because he was pretty sure Lance had called him cute.

 

No, that must have been an illusion. Maybe he should start eating more…

 

Hunk walked in the room, probably to check in on them. He seemed oblivious to the current atmosphere. “So, how was it?”

 

Keith slowly nodded and gave the cook a small smile. “It was good, thanks Hunk.”

 

“No problem buddy, I know you’ve been working hard with your training and stuff. And what about you, Lance?”

 

But Lance was totally spaced out, picking at his food.

 

“Okay then, looks like he’s out of it. Well, I’m glad you’re liking the food Keith. So I’ll leave you to it!”

 

Hunk left. Another word was not spoken for several minutes before Lance finally seemed to snap out of it.

 

“So yeah. You’re really not as bad as you think, Keith.”

 

Keith smiled. “Yeah, maybe not.”

 

Maybe not. 

 

“By the way… if it wasn’t obvious, I may have  _ kind of a crush  _ on Spider-man?”

 

Keith scoffed. “Nah, it was obvious.”

 

Lance groaned. “ _ Great _ , now my greatest rival knows about my crush. Anyway, yeah, I do like him. It’s just… I also look up to him.”

 

“Why’s that?”

 

“Well, he’s a  _ superhero  _ for one. He saves people for a living. He could’ve used those powers for bad or… or something worse. But instead, he chose to be a hero. With all that power, it would be so tempting to do something not that heroic. I really respect him for that. If that was me with those powers, I don’t think… well, you know… I don’t think I would’ve been a good hero.”

 

“But it’s not that different from Voltron, right?”

 

Lance looked at him, a little confused, so Keith continued.

 

“I mean, as a paladin of Voltron, you have these different abilities you have access to that no other human does. You have a bayard that can change its form with your mind, a jet pack, healing pods, and a lion that is fast and capable of lots of damage. It’s almost like having superpowers, isn’t it?”

 

“...Yeah, I guess so.”

 

“So Spider-man has the same responsibility we do. To protect people. That’s why he would be a superhero, right? That means that someone out there cares for him too.”

 

Lance smiled at him. “You’re right. What am I thinking? Of course we’re awesome!”

 

Keith laughed before he took his now-empty plate and stood up. “Well, I think I’m finished.”

 

“What are you going to do now?”

 

What  _ was  _ he going to do now? There really was not much to do on this ship.

 

“I don’t know, what are  _ you  _ going to do?”

 

“You’re asking me? The one person who probably hates you the most?”

 

“Yeah, something wrong with that?”

 

“N-no, I’m just surprised that’s all. Anyway, I was going to try getting past the level I was stuck in on the video game we have. Wanna come?”

 

Keith shrugged. “Sure, why not? I can’t  _ wait  _ to see you lose.”

 

“Oh, it’s  _ on. _ ”

  
And Keith had to admit, it  _ was  _ pretty impressive that Lance finished the level on the first try since Keith started watching. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, sorry for that, well, crap. It ended up ok. I had a different idea (but my fingers typed down otherwise).
> 
> Don’t forget to make a suggestion if you want! I’m almost done with my current one!


	4. The Reveal (With Plot!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a week of no communication from Team Voltron, the Blade of Marmora finally gain a lead on what's happened. Keith alone is sent to help, but with a base as well guarded as this, would he really be able to get out alive and with his identity still intact? After all, he would do anything to protect his friends.
> 
> Or…
> 
> The reveal chapter you've all been waiting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a short break, I’m back and better than ever! 
> 
> Seasons 6 and 7 were so amazing and they made me cry. 
> 
> Y’all are in for a treat today! I got well over 7000 words in this chapter and I don’t regret it! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> And I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender or Spider-Man.

Keith used to watch anime with Ned once upon a time. He thought it was cool how the characters got to save the Earth time and again. Well, he was Spider-man, so he was cooler, but still. He liked to cheer on the main characters as they fought up in space, riding their mechs in battles that could determine their planet's fate.

But watching something and actually doing it were two completely different things.

Of course, as a superhero himself, he knew the pressure and the problems that came with the mask. However, there's a fine line between being a hometown superhero with a secret identity and being the face of a giant mech that the entire universe is relying on.

Really, there was. Pfft, he practically didn't even _have_ a secret identity up here.

Anyways, being part of Voltron was…. Not hard? But it was never easy either. Having to try and save planets without dying or getting captured was incredibly nerve-wracking. Don't get him wrong, he was confident in his piloting skills, but you never know what'll happen up here in space, where aliens were the norm and technology was a hundred times more advanced than Iron Man's nanobot suit.

So. If Voltron was captured, the world - scratch that, the _universe_ would be in _big_ trouble if word ever got out.

Which was why this was a problem.

He had gotten back from the castle ship a while ago, hero persona gone. He knew it would only last so long.

But he didn't know he'd have to go back this soon.

Because a week ago, they couldn't get ahold of Voltron. They had tried every day to see if it was just some error or if they were busy, but they hadn't answered.

The entire Blade was extremely worried for their welfare, sending out a message to all members to alert them if they encountered anything to do with the giant mech or the Paladins. Someone was always left on standby just in case a Blade found any information.

Usually, it was Keith. Even if he didn't look it, he was extremely worried about his friends, and he really didn't need his emotions to get in the way of any missions. While he would love a chance to try and find anything himself, he knew that he couldn't do much right now, especially since he wouldn't even know where to start. No one did, really.

All they could do was wait for any news.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as a Blade ran up to him, putting down his mask temporarily to speak to him. He panted for a few seconds before he gathered his breath. "A ship just landed in the hangar. Th-they claim that they have imperative information and are heading to the brigg right now."

"What kind of information?"

The Blade looked him right in the eyes, completely serious. "Information about Voltron."

Keith's eyes widened. "I'll head there right away. You should go ahead and tell Kolivan, he needs to hear this. He should be in the communications room with some of the others."

The Blade nodded, putting his mask back up and leaving at a brisk pace. Keith put his own mask up and made his own way towards the brigg. He arrived in record time, noticing a Blade in the room besides Kolivan and the Blade he met earlier.

Kolivan nodded. "Keith. Good, you're here." He turned to the other. "Please tell us what you know."

The Blade nodded. "My partner, Oroth, and I were part of Commander Gotur's fleet. He's a Galra who's against Lotor's reign and has been seeking power ever since the prince took the throne. He's one of those who tends to use their brain more than their brawn. While Oroth and I were a part of his command center, we were informed of many of the plans Commander Gotur had set up to try and rise in power. As his generals, he often confided in us, but I don't think he ever trusted anyone as much as he did himself, for he insisted on going through with the plans himself, many times without any of his follower's permission or to their knowledge."

He sighed. "A few days ago, Gotur had led me down to the built-in prison in the bowels of his base, saying he had a surprise for me. It was…. It was the Voltron Paladins, sir. All of them, including the Alteans. Fortunately, the Voltron lions are not in his possession currently."

Kolivan narrowed his eyes. "Do you know what he plans to do with them?"

The Blade shook his head. "I only know a little. He did say that he would announce their capture in a week's time though. He knows that he needs to make sure he has good security before other Galran ships try to steal his prize away. I came here as soon as I got as much info as I could." He grit his teeth, a growl escaping, clearly displeased.

Kolivan nodded. "Alright. Let's get to work straight away."

And that was how Keith was sent on a rescue mission to help his friends.

As Kolivan had explained to him, he was the smallest and one of the more flexible members of the Blades. Also, the Paladins would be able to immediately trust him instead of being suspicious of another Galra they sent in. Despite his inexperience, they knew that Keith would do his best on this mission, as both his and his friends' lives were on the line.

And they weren't wrong, Keith knew.

He would be assisted by Oroth, who had stayed behind to communicate with his partner and to help free the Paladins in any way he could.

Otherwise, Keith would be alone on this mission. Which he didn't mind, really, since he would be able to use some of his superhero skills without fear. Well, with a little fear. He could still get caught, after all, superhero abilities or not.

The reason there were so few helping was that they couldn't afford to be caught. Too many people would catch the attention of the enemy, and they did not need that happening.

Keith sighed as he drove a large Galra ship to Commander Gotur's ship, shaking himself out of his thoughts as he mentally prepared himself for his mission.

The hangar doors opened for him, allowing him to enter. As he landed, he was relieved to find that there were no Galrans in the room at all. Weird, but convenient. Very convenient.

" _Don't worry, you should be safe. As of right now, I'm the only one who has access to the cameras on the ship. I can't watch you, but I am able to track your position as well as the positions of all enemies and allies. I also closed off the hangar bay so that you wouldn't have to deal with any fighters right when you came in. The faster we get this done, the better._ "

Keith grunted an affirmative at the other voice smoothly echoing through his earpiece, swiftly exiting the ship.

The other Blade offered directions, alerting Keith to guards and to sensors. Keith really appreciated it, as his spider-sense was sensing too much danger to figure out where the most immediate danger was.

You know what was nice about his Blade of Marmora outfit? It was made kind of similar enough to his own Spider-man suit, which was really nice, actually. He was used to the texture, and the mask really made him feel at home.

Also, it was thin enough to allow him to stick to walls, which, frankly, was the best luck he thinks he's had in _months_.

He pressed himself further against the corner of the ceiling as two sentries passed under him.

_Patience yields focus._

He took a large breath before he slipped through the door the robots had just passed through, sliding in just before it closed. He looked ahead to find the dark red hall empty.

" _Okay. Just one more floor to go before you hit the cell block. I'm warning you now, there are a lot of guards stationed down there. You'll be hard pressed to get them out quickly, and it would be a miracle if you could get them out quietly. However, that's not something we have to worry about. We only need to worry about getting them out_ alive. _So don't try anything too reckless, ok? We don't need any unnecessary distractions._ "

Keith didn't say anything, didn't _need_ to. He ran forward, looking carefully around corners and crawling on the ceiling as his ally led him further down into the bowels of the ship.

When he came across a dark gray door, he waited. Oroth was the only one able to open the door besides the commander of the ship.

And when it finally opened after a long minute, Keith didn't waste any time. He ran in and found a shadowy spot on the ceiling as soon as he was able. He didn't need to be caught unawares by any guards.

He was glad he hid, because he found that his ally had been right. There were a _scary_ amount of guards, both robots and Galran soldiers. Cell doors lined the walls, but Keith would have a difficult time finding which ones the Paladins were in.

Well, if he didn't have an inside person, that is.

" _Their cells are in the exact middle. It was a precaution the Commander took. He doesn't underestimate the Paladins. He knows that they're capable of escaping, which is why he's been so cautious. I don't know how you'll get there without being seen, considering the amount of guards, but I trust you to get the job done. I'll let you know when you're there._ "

Keith nodded, even though the Blade couldn't see him, and his slowly made his way across the ceiling, staying in the shadows as much as possible. The purple glows of his outfit had been turned off. He didn't need his own uniform revealing his location.

...You're right, his Spider-man suit was much worse, but hey, it's not like he did a lot of stealth mission anyways. He needed the bad guys (and the good guys) to remember him, you know. And red and blue are a fantastic color combination, if he did say so himself.

" _All right, you're there. Do you see a door with a strange, glowing symbol on it? Yeah, that's the one. It's been reinforced with a strong metal that even Galra find extremely difficult to break. I should be able to open it for you, but only for a moment. Once you're in, you'll need to figure out a plan to get out of here. I'll do my best to cover you along the way, but I can only do so much from here. And I need to continue my undercover mission. I'm going to open the door in a few seconds, so watch carefully. Inform me when you have a plan to set up. Be swift_."

Keith moved so that he was positioned right above the door, still hidden in the grooves of the ceiling. Once the door opened, he fell and rolled right in, barely making it as he heard the door close shut behind him.

He panted as the adrenaline rushed through his veins, trying to calm himself down. He looked up to see who was in the room.

And he sighed in relief.

The Paladins all still had their armor on, save for their helmets and bayards. They were all sound asleep, save for Hunk, who was watching them all with caring and soft eyes. When Keith had entered, he had looked up, his eyes widening at what Keith hoped was recognition.

He immediately put his mask down, revealing his face to his friend, and he saw Hunk visibly relax. "Keith…"

Keith was able to smile at Hunk, because really, he was happy that they were all ok. "Hey Hunk. Ready for a breakout?"

Hunk gave him a smile back. "Yeah. Though we might want to wake the others up before we start planning anything, because I know they all want a part in it. Especially Pidge. Pidge has been waiting for the perfect opportunity for revenge and, um, I'm not going to get in the way." His smile wavered slightly, but otherwise stayed true.

"Right. You go wake up Pidge, Allura, and Coran. I'll wake up Shiro and Lance."

Hunk nodded and left Keith to wake up the others. Keith himself went up to Lance first, shaking him slightly. "Lance, wake up."

The current Red Paladin groaned and fidgeted slightly. "Just five more minutes…"

After a few more moments of more vigorous shaking, Keith decided to just punch him in the face.

Because punching people always cheered him up. It was probably just the vent speaking, but hey, he wasn't one to complain.

And he didn't regret it. He had a hard time keeping a straight face on as Lance glared at him. "Keith what was that… for…. Wait, KEITH?! What are _you_ doing here?!"

"To rescue you, you idiot." He held out his hand before Lance could say anything. "Hold it, let me wake up Shiro. He needs to hear whatever you want to hear, and I don't want to repeat myself."

Luckily, Shiro was almost right next to Lance, so he almost didn't even have to move. He cautiously placed his hands on Shiro's flesh arm, shaking him carefully. He own body, however, was tense, and it was a good thing too, since the first thing Shiro did upon waking up was to attack him out of reflex. Luckily, Keith was ready for it, and he was able to get out of the way in time before a metal arm hit him in the neck.

Shiro blinked, gathering his bearings as he realized what had just happened. "K-Keith? I am so sorry, I didn't mean to attack you. I thought-"

"No, it's fine. You've been through a lot. And see, I'm not hurt, so don't worry about it."

Shiro smiled. "Thanks, Keith. So, what are you doing here? I thought you were with the Blade?"

Keith pulled Shiro up, noticing that the others were up too. "I'm still with the Blade of Marmora, but we've been working all week to try and rescue you guys."

Allura walked up to him, smiling. "Well, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we're glad you're here."

Pidge spoke up. "Now all we need is a plan. Unless you already have one?" She raised her eyebrow at him in question.

Keith shook his head. "No, we wanted to see if you all had any ideas first. Especially because of all the guards outside this cell."

Shiro looked at him. "'We?'"

"Yeah, there's another Blade here, Oroth. He's waiting on us to figure out something. He said he'll do his best to cover us, but ultimately…"

The black paladin nodded. "It's up to us, then."

"Right."

Coran put his hand on his chin, clearly thinking. "First we need to get the helmets and bayards. Those are important and they would truly help in our unfortunate situation."

Pidge raised her hand, eager and grinning. "Oooh, I know where they are! I overheard the guards saying they were put into a storage unit that's located near the hangar bay!"

Hunk raised his hand too. "Um, that's great and all, but how are we going to get out of here without getting caught? Keith said there were a lot of guards, so, uhh, we probably need to be cautious." He turned to look at Keith. "Did the Blade say anything about being subtle or anything?"

"No, they didn't. In fact, all they really care about is getting you guys out of here. If that means attracting attention, so be it, since they don't really need anything bad happening to you. They really care about Voltron."

Lance smirked. "It sounds funs to me." The team stared at him. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "W-well, as much as fighting a whole bunch of Galra for our lives can _be_ fun, anyways…."

Shiro smiled and spoke up. "Alright, let's calm down." His face turned more serious. "So, can anyone think of anything?"

Allura fidgeted. "I…. I think I have a plan. It's not much, and it's pretty simple, but I think we can do it."

"Let's hear it."

 

* * *

 

They all stood against the cell wall, invisible to anyone if the door should open. Keith was nearest to it, as he was the only one with a weapon.

Shiro's arm had been put out of commission, with a power brace restricting some of his movement. Keith was able to cut it off thanks to his sword, so he was the second closest.

He gave the signal to Oroth, and the door opened after a few seconds. Keith looked around the door, and, nodding to the other Paladins, they flooded out, Keith in the front and Shiro in the back.

The Galra started shooting them almost as soon as they had been in sight. Luckily, Shiro was able to deflect some of them, while the rest missed.

_This feels a lot like Star Wars…._

Keith shook that thought out of his head (even though it was true, but he'd have to think about that later). He cut down all of the guards in front of him before they could react, and they made their way through the hall just like that.

Despite the amount of soldiers, Keith found that defeating them wasn't the hardest task he'd faced (some of Spider-man's enemies had definitely been more challenging, in his opinion). It helped that he was also skilled with his sword, which he swung with practiced ease to disable each enemy they encountered.

After a few minutes of running and cutting down enemies, they miraculously made it to the designated storage room without injury. The door opened for them (courtesy of their ally), and everyone quickly grabbed their belongings as it shut again. Each of the Paladins put on their helmets and held their bayards in their hands, their weapons materializing, except for Shiro, who was used to his arm.

Keith nodded as he saw that everyone was ready for the next step in their plan. "Ok, Oroth can't keep the alarm off for much longer. Let's go."

They nodded, and they did the same thing as before, hiding against the wall where the door was so that they would be invisible for a few moments. The door opened, and the Paladins waited a few seconds before they all ran out, Lance in front as he shot at any enemies that could shoot them from afar while Keith took down the sentries in their immediate vicinity.

He and Pidge moved to the front, slicing any enemies in front of them while Lance and Hunk took care of the ones further out of range. Allura, Shiro, and Pidge took care of any that they missed as they ran past, making sure no one was shot in the back.

They ran out the door without too much of a problem, but of course, teamwork makes the dream work, as they say.

" _You got everything? Good. Make your way to the hangar. I have to set the alarm now, otherwise my position could be compromised, and then I wouldn't be able to help you at all at that point. In the meantime, I'll try to keep the hanger empty for you. Hurry, you don't have much time. Good luck._ "

Keith turned to his comrades as they ran through the currently empty halls, a whisper leaving his lips. "The alarm will go off in a few moments. We'll have to really break through this time."

The team nodded, and right on cue, a loud alarm blared through the halls, informing the enemy of their presence. This would be the hard part.

They fought through wave after wave of Galra as they traveled through the large halls, each member doing their best to protect each other. Shiro and Allura were the best at deflecting the laser bullets, both on a separate side to try and defend the team as much as possible while fighting anyone around them. Hunk and Pidge watched the back, as the Galra were even coming from behind them. Hunk's large gun allowed him to take down dozens of enemies at once while Pidge was perfect for picking off any leftovers.

Lance and Keith were at the front again, perfect combination of gun and sword. Keith was able to get rid of many of the soldiers, and Lance, thanks to his sharpshooter skills, was able to take down each sentry with only one or two shot, each fighting off an even amount of enemies.

Coran was in the middle, as he didn't have any armor and there was not much he could do to fight back. However, he was excellent in cheerleading, encouraging the Paladins and helping them feel positive. Leave it to the space uncle to be their morale booster.

By the time they got to the hanger, each member had gained minor injuries, but luckily, nothing serious. Coran was the only one uninjured, as the Paladins had taken extra care in protecting him.

The hangar opened up for them, and several Galra followed them inside. The doors leading to the hanger luckily closed after they entered, leaving them with only a few soldiers to fight off, which they easily did thanks to their advantage.

After they were defeated, Keith started to lead them to the ship he came in, which would be large enough to fit all the paladins in comfortably. However, a large figure stepped out of the shadows.

The Galra was tall, Keith would give him that. He was a good two feet taller than Shiro, and he gave off an intimidating aura, despite his lack of muscle that most Galra seemed to inherit. He looked pretty lean though, so he would be strong. His beady yellow eyes were narrow and cunning, and in his hands were a large dagger and a handgun.

He had a smirk on his face as his voice drawled out of his mouth, smooth and mostly apathetic besides the arrogance that leaked through. "Hello, Paladins of Voltron. It is such an _honor_ to see you again, I must say. I was afraid that you would be a weak and disappointing bunch, but it seems I underestimated you." His smirk turned into a grin, his sharp teeth shining menacingly in the pale light. "Looks like I'll have to take things into my own claws."

He quickly pulled up his gun and shot in their direction, a pink laser zooming by as the team dodged it. They ran in separate directions to try and get some cover.

Commander Gotur only laughed. "That's right, you better run! You are only prolonging your own death, you cannot escape!"

Coran had ended up with Keith when they had dodged, and Keith turned to him, a plan in his mind already forming thanks to the amount of times he's had to think fast in dire situations. "Coran, you need to get to the ship."

He protested. "But Keith-"

"Coran, we need it ready for takeoff as soon as everyone is on board. And I know that none of us would want you hurt. And if something happens… we need someone that can get back to the Blade, to tell them the truth of what's going on. I'm sure that Gotur has something planned for all of us if he can get us again. Which is why you're so important, Coran. _Please_."

The older Altean looked hesitant, looking out as Lance and Pidge tried to attack Gotur, the commander quickly moving to deflect their short attacks. His face then became determined, his mind made up. "...Alright, I'll do it."

Keith gave him what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "Thanks. We're counting on you. I'll give you some cover."

Coran smiled back. "Right."

Keith got up from behind the crate and sprinted to Gotur, his mask already up as their blades crossed. He moved to the right, still pushing his blade against the Galran's. Allura and Shiro took the opportunity to try and hurt him, but he jumped back, relatively unharmed as the attack missed.

But the plan was a success at any rate, Keith thought, as he saw Coran climb aboard the ship he had come in on.

Lance and Hunk had currently flanked Gotur, shooting from both sides. Keith decided to assist them, running to the alien's front to try and catch him off guard. The commander once again locked swords with his, purple and yellow sparks flying off the blades as they collided and pushed against each other.

Keith had to use some of his spider strength in order to keep his arm up. He didn't need to do it long though, as he had finally left Gotur wide open for an attack.

Which is just what Pidge and Allura did, and their bayards were able to touch the purple skin, causing him to groan in agony. Keith was then able to overpower him and pushed him back, the Galra falling against a nearby crate. He wasn't down yet though, as he did not waste any time standing. A growl escaped his mouth, clearly angry that he had been knocked down so easily.

Gotur rushed forward, slashing his blade and shooting next to him at the same time, with the shot almost catching Hunk on the shoulder and the sword almost getting Keith on the arm.

The Galra stopped for a split second, and Pidge launched her weapon, but the commander had kneeled down and caught it, pulling it and pulling the Green Paladin towards him. Shiro was the one to save her, shoving his hand into his arm.

Gotur howled in pain as he let go of the glowing green string. Pidge winced as she got off the floor, clearly in pain from the sudden tug and fall. Lance was able to get a good shot, hitting the Galra on the forearm.

The alien growled as he grabbed Shiro and threw him across the room at Hunk. Allura tried to come at him from behind, but he had reached for her leg, twirling her around a few times. Lance tried to shoot him, but he deflected the shots with his dagger before he too threw the princess, this time at Lance. Keith was already next to him, as he knew he could get a chance the moment he had thrown Allura. Unfortunately, it seemed Gotur was expecting this, for shot his gun at Keith. It caught his hood, ripping a hole through it and leaving a burn mark around as he fell to the ground.

Keith was lucky it hit there. His head was not completely in his hood, and he had been left startled, but unharmed.

Hunk had already tried shooting the enemy, but the enemy had started shooting back, so he had taken some cover behind some nearby crates, shooting when he could.

Keith used the distraction it to his advantage. Gotur thought that he had gotten hurt, and he let his guard down, but Keith was ready for it. He bounced up from his spot, giving Gotur a good, solid, superpowered punch in the face. He also took the chance to slice at the gun, which was in full view since he had been currently firing it.

The Galra stumbled back, a red scuff mark appearing under his cheek, where Keith had gotten him. The front half of his gun fell to the floor, useless.

He yelled to his friends. "Get to the ship! I'll finish off Gotur!"

Lance glared at him from where he stood, having just gotten up. "We're not leaving you behind!"

"You're not going to! You need to get out of the fight before you guys get hurt anymore. It's you he's after, not me. I'll keep him distracted while you get on the ship. Don't worry, I'll come in right behind you. Now go!"

The Paladins all shared a look, and while it was clear that they wanted to stay, it was also clear that this was what they needed to do. They started running towards the ship, both Lance and Shiro occasionally looking back.

Commander Gotur was about to run after them, but Keith tripped him. "You'll have to go through me first!"

"Oooh, a feisty one. I wonder if I'll be able to crack that little mask of yours by the time I'm done with you?" A malicious look had come across his face, clearly seeing the delicious challenge in front of him.

Keith smirked underneath his mask, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he ran forward, brandishing his sword and striking.

Gotur deflected his blade with his own and used Keith's slight disorientation to swing back. It was a good thing Keith had a supernatural sense of balance (spider powers, of course), and so this time Keith blocked him, trying to knock the shortsword away.

It continued like this for a while, the two of them exchanging harsh blows. Their dance of swords left sparks flying across the room. The fight itself was fast-paced and loud as each strong opponent tried to gain the upper hand.

Keith swung low. Gotur blocked it and tried to swing at Keith's head, but Keith once again deflected the blow with his own sword. However, this time, he accidentally tripped over a crack in the floor, and he fell on his back. He tried to get up, but Gotur had placed his blade to his next.

The two stayed, panting, waiting. Gotur smirked. "Well, well, it looks like I've caught you. Any last words before your friends see me slaughter you in front of their eyes?"

Keith breathed in slowly. There was one ace he had up his sleeve. Well, one more web-shooter, but that's not a cool metaphor. And he had two anyways, not one. Ugh, the things he tried to do to lighten up his mood.

He discreetly put his hand out, still on the ground, shooter aimed towards Gotur's smug face.

Really, he couldn't find himself feeling scared or worried about his identity. His friends were worried about him. They didn't deserve to see him killed and covered in blood. No, they were far too good for that. And if he died… he wouldn't be able to protect the people he loved. He wouldn't be able to protect his friends and the family he had found in Voltron. No, he couldn't, _wouldn't_ go down here.

Though it really wouldn't be a bad place to die, he thought. It was fitting that he'd fight to the very end to help his friends. It was who he was.

But like he said, not now. There was still so much he had to do, and he was not going to let _this_ random _alien_ ruin it.

He pressed down on his web-shooters.

Or he would've, Gotur hadn't been shot by something first.

Keith's eyes widened as an explosion surrounded him.

"Keith! Over here!"

He turned around and saw that the passenger ship he had come in on was flying, landing, with Lance hanging out of the side waving to him. Smoke exited out of the barrels attached to the bottom of the ship.

Keith looked back to see the commander down for the count for now, definitely unconscious. Then he turned back, only to find Lance smiling at him.

He smiled back, and he ran towards the ship, grabbing onto Lance's hand as the ship rose off the ground once more.

 

* * *

 

The next time he woke up, he found himself in a healing pod, which was already opening up for him.

Coran and Hunk were sitting on the ground, and it looked like they had been talking before Keith's pod opened.

He stumbled out, and, feeling himself lose his balance, he put his hand against the outside wall of the pod. _So this was how Lance felt, huh?_

Coran and Hunk both got up, hugging him. Keith was confused.

Hunk smiled at him. "I'm so glad you're alright, man. It's good to have you back."

Now Keith felt more confused. "W-what happened?"

Coran explained. "You see, it looks like that fight with Gotur had taken more out of you than we thought. You'd collapsed as soon as you got onto the ship. It was mostly from exhaustion, but it seemed that you had gotten quite a few large lacerations on your body. The adrenaline from the fight must have kept them numb for a while."

"Oh." Well, that made sense.

"Where are the others?"

Coran continued. "Well, they're still healing up. Their injuries weren't as bad as yours, but it should still be another varga or so until they're fully healed."

"Then how did I get out first, if my wounds were worse?"

The Altean brought up a screen next to the pod. "Well, it seems that your regenerative systems are more effective than the others', which is a bit strange but it might be a side effect of being part Galra."

Keith winced. Nope, that wasn't true. When he had been bullied when he was younger, his bruises had definitely stayed around awhile. It was only until after he had gotten bit by the radioactive spider that he started to heal faster than normal.

Also, he must've used a lot more energy than he had thought, because his superhuman stomach was now grumbling loudly. He felt his cheeks warm a little as he felt a bit embarrassed about the noise.

Hunk's eyes widened in realization. "Oh yeah, you must be hungry, right? Hang on, let's go to the kitchen. I had something cooked up for all of you already, so I'm actually kind of glad you're feeling hungry. Wouldn't want all this good food to go to waste, after all." He grinned.

And boy, did the food taste _good_. Hunk had also made a lot more food than usual, since he had assumed everyone would be pretty hungry after they were healed. What Hunk didn't know was that he had actually made too _much_ food, but Keith wasn't complaining because it was the perfect portion for _him_.

Of course, you could blame his superpowers for his super metabolism.

He sighed in content as he finished the last bite, slouching slightly in his seat in satisfaction. He hadn't had a fulfilling meal like that in, well, _never_. Keith had never tried to eat too much, since he never had enough money for it at home and he didn't want to be seen as rude or weird with all the food he could eat.

So to have a meal that actually satisfied his large appetite was so _refreshing_. It was rather nice.

Keith looked up at Hunk and smiled. "Thanks for the food, Hunk. It was good."

Well, it was more than that, but he just wanted to keep up appearances for the sake of it.

Hunk smiled at him, his eyes sparkling. "I'm glad you thought so Keith. Let's hope the others get out soon so that they can enjoy it too. I'm sure they'll need it."

Keith nodded and followed Hunk out into the room with all the healing pods, the bridge. Coran was still there, waiting for one of them to finish. He looked up at Keith and Hunk as they walked in. "Oh, how was the meal?"

Keith smiled. "It was good. Hunk's cooking is amazing."

"Aw, buddy, thanks man, I really appreciate it."

He turned his smile to the gentle giant, seeing the smile on his face too.

And of course, that _had_ to be when a pod opened up.

He and Hunk quickly grabbed lance before he could fall to the floor.

 _Again_. 

 

* * *

 

Keith had already dressed in his regular clothes, since the Blade had decided to let him rest awhile. And of course, he chose to rest with his friends in the Castle of Lions.

It wasn't too late yet. The others had already eaten, and there was still plenty of time before they had to go to bed. None of them would be hungry enough to eat dinner.

Well, maybe except Keith, but he'd be fine. Honest.

Because right now, he wasn't even wasting his energy. He was just lying on the ground in his room, wondering what to do. He was bored, but he honestly didn't even know what to do for fun around here.

Sure, sometimes training was fun, but he really didn't feel like doing that right now. And it wasn't even that fun in the first place, no matter what the others tell you. Because they totally think Keith thinks that it it's actually entertaining.

And Keith was a little amused at the assumption. Just a little though.

As he lie there, he started to think of the things he would do at home.

Mostly, his free time would be used for swinging around the city, stopping crime and arresting bad guys. Being Spider-man was admittedly one of his favorite things to do. The buildings would fly past him, blurring as he accelerated across the streets. The wind would whip past him, giving him the illusion that he was flying. He would land on top of the tallest building he could find that was nearby, and he'd look down at the city he loved and protected to the best of his ability.

But that wasn't the only thing he did in his free time. None of the team knew this, but he was a _huge_ science nerd. Mostly for chemistry. He was pretty skilled at mechanics and technology too though, as well as a lot of other sciences. As a granted, he was also good at math, although it wasn't his favorite thing. His science knowledge had helped him make his custom web-shooters, which only a person of his strength could activate. He didn't need to shoot the webs on accident. That would lead to a _lot_ of problems.

Also, he had his friend Ned back in New York. He remembered a time where they'd work together on Lego Deathstars and would hack into the suit that Tony Stark had made for him. Ah, good times, good times.

Ned was an awesome friend. He was really understanding and the greatest tech wiz he knew. He was also a fellow nerd, which only helped their friendship.

He was also a huge fan of Spider-man and the other Avengers, and he knew his secret, so he was the person he'd share all his stories and experiences with. Seeing the amazed look on his friend's face was worth it every single time.

Wow. He just realized that all the things he had spent his free time doing all led to Spider-man. Seriously, this was his _life_?

Keith laughed quietly to himself.

Still lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear the door open.

"KEITH, ARE YOU IN HERE?! I need someone to help me beat Pidge. She's out of control!"

"No I'm not, Lance, you're just bad at video games."

"You're cheating, I just _know_ it!"

"Um, guys, please calm down-"

"THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND PIDGE, HUNK!"

"Hunk's right, there's no reason for you two to argue. It's just a game, right? I'm sure you'll eventually win, Lance."

"Thank you Shiro. See Lance? You'll be fine."

"No, I won't, I- WHAT THE QUIZNACK?! KEITH?!"

Keith had not expected them them to barge in. He especially did not expect Lance to yell so loudly when he was only several feet away. He also did _not_ expect for the whole team to be outside of his room, making a lot of noise.

So he thought his reaction was quite appropriate. It was a reflex that usually didn't occur. Usually, he'd attack first. But since his spider-sense hadn't tingled at all, well, he was just _really_ surprised.

He looked up at Lance looking up at him.

So he was on the ceiling, so what?

Ok, ok, so it was kind of a big deal, but hey, he was just trying to downplay his own shock here.

Lance finally seemed to regain his words even as he still stared. "What are you doing on the ceiling?"

Keith was panicking on the inside. "Um…"

The rest of the the team decided to walk in at that moment, Pidge in the front. "What are you talking about, Lance? Are you- WOAH, WHAT THE QUIZNACK?!"

Aaaaand now the rest of the team was looking at him. Great. He sighed. Well, there was no use in hiding it now. They clearly saw him, and there was no way he could deny it. Might as well get comfortable.

Of course, his comedian side decided that would be to sit cross-legged on the ceiling. It _was_ comfortable, don't get him wrong, but he thinks that that part of his brain just wanted to see his friends (especially Lance) combust even more.

Hunk's voice came out pretty calm, pretty impressive considering the look on his face. "Keith? What are you doing?"

He _could_ say something reasonable, but his Spider-man side had been activated. Getting backed into a corner did that to him sometimes. It didn't always help, but hey, at least he could be funny and make someone laugh.

And so he responded with, "Sitting down. Why?" He even lifted up his eyebrow to make him seem innocently confused.

Lance stuttered. "B-but that isn't even _possible_ is it? Pidge, please, _please_ tell me I'm not going crazy and seeing things."

Pidge still looked pretty stunned. "Uhhh…."

Keith answered instead, smiling. "Yes, you are seeing things. You must be going crazy, Lance, because _you're_ the one who's on the ceiling."

Lance blanched. "What."

Keith did his best to hold in a snicker.

The joke seemed to break Pidge, well, in a good way. It broke her out of her trance, I mean. She laughed. "Oh my GOD, your FACE!" She did in fact have a good view of his face. And oh boy, was it a _hilarious_ one.

Lance snapped out of it and glared at her.

Shiro looked at Keith curiously. "Um, Keith…?"

"...Yeah?"

"...Do you… Do you mind getting down from there? I think you're freaking us all out here."

"Okay."

He jumped down from the ceiling with ease, landing right in front of Shiro. "Better?"

Shiro nodded. "Yeah. So…" He gestured vaguely, mostly to the ceiling. "Mind telling us what that was?"

The others looked at him, and they were most _definitely_ curious about his answer.

Keith looked down, shuffling his feet. The moment of truth, huh? "Well, the truth is…"

He looked up. Each of the members stared at him expectantly.

Keith took in a deep breath. "The truth is… I've been hiding this for a long time. I haven't told a lot of people, and a lot of people don't know this about me. It's a really big secret, so… can I trust you all to keep it a secret for me? This… this isn't something that needs to be spread around, _including_ around the universe. So can you promise that you can keep it a secret? Please?"

The Paladins of Voltron looked at each other, probably trying to gauge what the others would want to do. After a few moments, they all nodded one by one, and Shiro smiled. He turned to Keith. "Yes, we promise we'll all keep it a secret, right?"

The others all looked at him, smiles on their faces. "Right!" "Of course." "Yep!"

Keith smiled. "Thanks, you guys. So the truth is… well…" He shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm Spider-man."

He was met with silence and blank faces. It worried Keith a little, that is, until he saw Lance's eyes widen. "What. Are you serious, Keith?"

The tension seemed to build as if the whole universe waited to hear the answer. And Keith decided to answer the universe. "Yes, I am. Here, I'll show you."

Before he could change his mind, he had activated his web-shooter, aiming in towards the Blade of Marmora dagger still on his bed. The sticky web attached itself to the knife, and he retracted the web back so that the dagger would land in his hand.

Lance's eyes widened for a moment, but then, to Keith's surprise, they had started to sparkle.

Pidge's did too, actually… She was probably interested in the webs.

They converged on him at once.

"Are those webs organic? Synthetic? How do you shoot them? How did you stick to the _ceiling_?"

"Woah, ok, that is _so_ cool, I mean, you actually grabbed the sword with a _web_ and you didn't even make a mistake, and that looked so _cool_!"

Keith backed up, a little overwhelmed.

Hunk spoke up. "So wait wait wait wait _wait_. You're _the_ Spider-man? As in, the _superhero_ who chases down criminals and swings around New York?"

"The one and only."

"Woah. Ok, I can see why you'd want to keep that a secret."

Shiro looked at him with a curious look on his face. "I guess secret identities are pretty important, huh?"

Keith nodded. "Yeah. Like, if a supervillain knew my name, and he couldn't beat me physically then…"

Shiro's eyes widened. "Right, they could go after people you know, or they could go after you in public."

"Right…"

Lance interrupted. "Sorry to interrupt, buuuut…. Keith? If you're Spider-man…. Could you show us the suit?!" His eyes shone in hope.

And Keith smiled. "Yeah. Just give me a sec."

 

* * *

 

Keith has never seen Lance's eyes sparkle _so much_. It was like he was some anime character or something.

He was also a crazed fanboy, admiring the suit as if it was the greatest thing in the universe. He was taking pictures with his Altean phone, probably to admire them later.

Pidge was asking him questions, and he willingly answered them as best he could. It seemed to satisfy her though, as he saw her studiously taking notes as if he was a famous scientist giving a lecture to a class.

Hunk was joining in with Pidge, coming up with theories and helping her understand the few things she didn't. She helped him understand a few things too, of course.

Shiro was mostly enjoying the show, but he also asked about his adventures. And when he started a story about an adventure, everyone listened in intently. It seems that he had some pretty interesting stories to tell after spending a few years of being a superhero in New York.

Keith smiled underneath his mask. He was glad that his team had taken a positive reaction to his identity, and that none of them were bitter about him not telling them.

But in the end, they were all happy. Actually, they'd even told him how much they'd appreciated him. They all had stories of how Spider-man saved someone they knew or someone they loved.

He appreciated them too, he realized. The people who appreciated Spider-man encouraged him. It warmed his heart to see how much of a positive impact on his friends' lives.

And now, maybe… maybe he could be more himself. "Less emo," as Pidge had called it. And of course, he'd try to be funnier than Lance, because he thought he was the best at making jokes? Oh no, if Lance wanted to take this rivalry of his seriously, he'd better be ready for some serious competition.

Oh, he'd always tell the best stories, because duh, he was a _superhero_.

And of course they all loved the part where he stole Captain America's shield.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, they are much appreciated! 
> 
> This was almost 8000 words by the way. That’s the most I think I’ve ever written actually.... wow,
> 
> Also, if you have a prompt, I’m free to take some. There’s a couple I’m doing right now, but I’ll take yours too if I can, of course. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this! As always, I appreciate any reviews as well! :)


	5. Iron Man Meets the Iron Lions (or their Paladins, at least)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony’s point of view in the whole “The Kerberos team is still missing and now so are three students plus Keith” ordeal. 
> 
> Also, when he finds them again, to his surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi, welcome back! Thanks for sticking around for this story, despite all of its flaws. 
> 
> I'll try my best not to disappoint you all. :)
> 
> WARNING: There is bad language in here. It's tagged, so you should already know, but I'm just making sure you know what you're getting into. 
> 
> ALSO lots of line breaks and time-skip stuff!
> 
> You have been adequately warned now, I believe. 
> 
> Now that that's done.... 
> 
> I don't own either Spider-Man or Voltron: Legendary Defender. 
> 
> Enjoy! :D

Tony Stark glared at Pepper as she stood in front of him, arms crossed. He was busy working on an upgrade to his suit and he did _not_ need any interruptions, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, Pepper didn’t seem to be affected as she didn’t go away like he clearly wanted her to.

She raised her eyebrow as Tony promptly ignored her and went back to fiddling with the device on the table in front of him. If she wasn’t going to say anything, then it’d be fine if he continued to work right?

And before you ask, no, he was _not_ going to ask her why she was here. If he did, she would tell him that it was because he had a meeting or whatever, and then she’d immediately drag him over there.

Pepper seemed to have caught onto the idea though. “Aren’t you going to ask why I’m here?”

See what he was talking about? She _knew_ what he was thinking.

Ugh, this is what he got for making her the CEO of Stark Industries. Sure, she’s competent, but maybe a little _too_ competent.

He shook his head, still focusing on his project. “Nope.” He popped the p at the end like the stubborn, inner child he was.

“Well, it doesn’t matter, because I’m going to tell you anyways.”

She looked down at the clipboard that had magically appeared in her hands, looking over whatever his schedule supposedly was.

“You have a meeting at 1:00 this afternoon to meet with the president of a semi-major tech company to discuss the possibility of a cooperative project.”

“Pass. If they are only semi-major, clearly they aren’t good enough to work with me.”

“After that, at 3:15 you’ll be meeting with-”

Tony groaned. “Pepper, don’t I have anything _exciting_ today?! The only things I’ve been doing lately is just _work_ and _meetings_. Surely there’s _something_.”

Pepper looked unimpressed. “You’re an adult, you’re _supposed_ to do work, Tony. But there might be _one_ meeting on this list that you’d be interested.”

“Oh _really_? Enlighten me, then, and tell me how, exactly, this meeting would satisfy me more than any other meeting I could possibly go to?”

“You’ll be meeting with the Galaxy Garrison to discuss increasing the security of the school.”

“...Why?”

Pepper looked at her clipboard again. “It seems that last week, three students were able to leave campus without permission and got involved in a classified event.”

“Go on.”

“They’re missing, Tony. All of them.”

Tony stood up a bit straighter. “Missing? How could they go _missing_? From one of the _most technologically advanced places in the world_?”

“That’s why they wanted to meet with you. The Garrison was hoping that you would be able to shed some light on the situation. After showing you what they captured on their cameras, of course.”

“Hmmm…” Tony’s mouth quirked up a bit. “When’s the meeting?”

“We can leave with your private jet in half an hour.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get going!”

 

* * *

 

Tony buried his head in his hands as he wondered how things had gone so bad so fast.

He was intrigued at first, wondering how the kids had left the Garrison. Seems that one of them was a bit of a techie and they had all taken advantage of the lockdown, because, of course, they hadn’t been inside, and so weren’t locked in.

And of course they found some kind of alien escape pod that contained _Takashi Shirogane_ of all people.

And then, of course, that’s when things started going downhill.

First it was the appearance of Peter, who was _somehow outside of the Garrison_ , who was apparently doing the same thing as the other three students.

Investigating what had happened. Which had then evolved to saving Shiro, because the Garrison, despite their reputation, were idiots and practically manhandled the guy. Peter had knocked the guards out and was somehow fit all of them onto a small speeder, still able to get away despite all of the accidents that could’ve happened.

Really, the Garrison wasn’t really that competent of they couldn’t catch up to 4 teenagers.

Well, maybe he couldn’t blame them; Peter was sort of a genius.

After that, the Garrison had lost sight of the group, and ever since have been unable to find traces of them anywhere. The only clue they got was a small, run-down, wooden hut out in the middle of the desert, but nobody had been there. Someone was there _before,_ but nobody seemed to be there now.

And then Tony learned that _Peter_ , the epitome of innocence and all that is good, got _kicked out of the Garrison_.

_He had gotten kicked out of the fucking Galaxy Garrison due to some kind of disciplinary issue!_

It had also happened a year ago. Why hadn’t he been informed of this earlier? The kid could’ve gone home!

And oh. _Oh_.

Peter, being the good person he was, probably felt really guilty about the situation. He tended to do that whenever anything happened.

But there had to be a reason why he had lashed out. Right?

He seemed to be asking himself that question often.

And later on, when he finally got home, he didn’t even touch his work, going to his couch and just thinking about what he did wrong. Peter would never do anything to endanger anyone on purpose. The kid only wants to do good, after all.

What had happened?

He tried to call him several times over the course of the next week. The calls and voicemails were left unanswered. He tried to investigate the disappearance himself, and he honestly didn’t find much else besides a cave carved with old runes.

Not like Tony cared, since Peter wasn’t there.

A month soon passed, and he still wasn’t any closer to learning what had happened. No one had heard from any of the five that had left that fateful night, and the entire Garrison were starting to believe that the people were gone.

They announced their official “deaths” the next day, and the search operation was shut down.

Tony had been _devastated_. Even _he_ had been denied access to the files after that, and, despite their idiocy, the Garrison had been barely able to keep him away from the data he needed to conduct any further investigations.

Because he couldn’t believe that Peter could be… could be _gone_. He was _Spider-man_ for god’s sake, there was no way the kid could have _died_.

Of course, the Galaxy Garrison didn’t know that. Because, you know. Secret identity.

Tony wished he had reinstalled SILK into the suit (or as Peter had liked to call her _,_ Karen). Peter actually didn't have her with him. He had appreciated the AI, but she had needed some much-needed upgrades that had taken a long while to install, and it had required Tony to remove her.

So now there was no way he could track the kid down, because of _course_ he’d go missing during the time he didn’t have a tracker on him.

Even Happy had been down. Despite what he said, Tony knew that the man also cared for Peter. He had gone eerily silent ever since he had heard the news.

Tony graciously sent him on a vacation, hoping it would help. Maybe it wouldn’t, but at least Happy seemed to accept the proposal without a fight, meaning that he must have appreciated it.

Tony knew that Peter had bad luck (especially because the kid said it all the time), but he didn’t know it was this bad.

Great.

Now what was he supposed to do?

Was there anything he _could_ do?

Tony didn’t know. He just didn’t know….

Hopefully, New York could survive a little longer without their favorite web-slinging hero.

 

* * *

 

**A long while later…. Probably several months, if not a year.**

 

Tony groaned as he got off the phone.

Look, Tony had nothing against aliens.

...Ok, maybe a little.

He had _little_ against aliens, but why did _he_ have to contact the Guardians of the Galaxy?

Sure, they were a great asset, especially from any unwanted space visitors, but he had better things to do. Like working on his nanobot suit!

Really, it’s not like he hated them. In fact, he kind of _liked_ them. Today though, they just had the important job of getting in the way of his work, and he really didn’t appreciate it.

Well, he couldn’t _really_ blame them. It wasn’t their fault. It was just that Director Fury had demanded that Tony contact them to make sure there weren’t any current outside threats.

It was Fury’s fault. And here Tony thought he couldn’t hate him anymore. Glad he was proven wrong.

Anyways he sat on his sofa, as he was going to use his TV to FaceTime them. Well, it was better than FaceTiming, but it’s seriously the best way to explain exactly what he was doing.

Welp. It was time to call.

Let’s hope they didn’t annoy him as fast this time.

 

* * *

 

The Paladins were all hanging out in their rooms when the Castle’s intercom turned on, Allura’s voice echoing through the speakers. “Paladins, can you all come to the bridge please?”

All of them had obliged to the request, wondering what was going on. It didn’t sound serious, as there weren’t any alarms blaring. Allura didn’t seem particularly panicked either.

When they all arrived, the princess continued. “Coran and I just picked up an odd, live transmission just a minute ago. It might be a distress signal of sorts.”

Coran nodded. “It’s a high possibility that an underdeveloped planet could have been attacked by the Galra, which could be why the transmission was sent in the first place.”

Allura spoke up again. “However, we won’t be too sure until we answer their call. Which is why we wanted you all here. They might need Voltron, and they need to know that we are their for them as a symbol of peace and unity in the universe.”

Shiro nodded. “We understand, Princess. Now why don’t we check out that live transmission?”

She nodded, and she brought it up.

 

* * *

 

Tony was busy trying to soothe his growing headache when an odd beep sounded out from this screen. Before he even had a chance to figure out what it was, another screen had popped up to show that another group had joined their conversation.

There were several people in it, all of them looking a little smooshed as they all tried to fit into the camera.

The Guardians of the Galaxy seemed to notice their presence as well, confused and surprised looks visible on their faces.

All sides were silent, none of them sure what to make of the awkward situation.

That is, until a short person wearing green armor pushed through the rest, an excited look on their face. “You’re Tony Stark!!! Oh my gosh!”

The lady with silver hair looked at her curiously. “Who?”

The person pouted, looking slightly offended. _Pouted_. “Only one of the greatest, if not _the_ greatest mind on Earth! He’s made many world-changing advances in both science and technology.”

Tony raised his eyebrow. “I’m flattered kid, really, I am, but… what are you doing, interrupting this transmission?”

Realization dawned on the kid’s face, and it soon morphed into something that more resembled sheepish guilt. “Sorry about that. Your transmission had made its way to where we are, and, due to its nature, we thought it may have been a distress signal.”

“What are you talking about? It was and encrypted transmission, and it wasn’t aimed at anyone else except for these guys.” He pointed to the Guardians of the Galaxy on the other side of the other screen, who had continued to watch the conversation with interest.

The person in green answered him again, pushing up their glasses. “You see, we have access to technology that surpasses most of Earth’s. In fact, most places past the Milky Way Galaxy are pretty advanced. Because of that, most transmissions from Earth aren’t actually that effective anymore, unfortunately. Any alien would be able to interrupt and decrypt the message, as our group just did right now. We weren’t entirely sure what was being transmitted, but on the off-chance that it was a distress signal, we checked it out anyways.” They grinned, their eyes flashing. “Looks like we found something better though.”

Tony instinctively stepped back. There was something in that expression that freaked him out a bit. He did his best to rein in the emotion.

A man wearing black armor standing behind her smiled apologetically. “We’re sorry for interrupting your conversation, sir, but we just had to be sure.”

Tony shook his head. “No, no, it’s ok, I get it.” And honestly, he did. Though he did feel a little miffed at the fact that, apparently, the entire _universe_ was more advanced than him.

One of the Guardians finally seemed to want to speak up, this one being Quill. “Ok, cool stuff, but _who_ , exactly, are you guys? I mean, you surely can’t be as great as the Guardians of the Galaxy,” he gestured at his group, “but clearly you think you’re important, what with the whole ‘trying to save people’ thing and the whole ‘we all have matching armor’ thing.”

The woman lit up. “Oh, let us introduce ourselves.” She smiled warmly. “I am Princess Allura of Altea, and this is Coran, my advisor.” She gestured to the orange-haired man next to her, and he gave an energetic wave.

The one in green armor spoke up. “I’m Pidge. O-or Katie Holt. It’s great to meet you!” She looked torn between being nervous and and excited.

“My name’s Hunk.” He gave a small wave, a soft smile on his face. He seemed like the most friendly of the group.

The one in blue armor jumped in energetically. “I’m Lance, the amazing Bl- Red Paladin!” He shaped his hands into… were those _finger guns_?!

Yep, they were. Tony didn’t know how to feel about that.

The man in black armor smiled softly, somehow the gesture showing that he was apologizing for the group of obvious teenagers. “I’m Takashi Shirogane, but you can just call me Shiro. I’m the leader and the Black Paladin of Voltron.”

He pointed to a teen next to him who was wearing red armor. “And this is Keith. Sorry if he seems kind of aloof, he’s really a good kid.”

The teen barely seemed to notice, his eyes wide. The words Shiro said seemed to stop him out of whatever stupor he was in, and it let something slip out of his lips, his voice soft and light with stunned surprise. “M-Mr. Stark?”

Tony’s eyes briefly widened. _Wait a minute…._

These people… they were all familiar to him. One more than the others, actually. But….

“Peter?”

The teen gave a slight nod, his violet eyes shining. He still looked a bit stunned, and frankly, Tony couldn’t blame him. He himself couldn’t believe his eyes. It had been a couple years since they had even seen each other, what with Peter going to the Garrison and then _disappearing_.

This was really the last place he was expecting to find him.

He noticed the confused looks of everyone else as they looked between him and Peter.

Tony didn't feel like explaining. Neither did Peter, apparently, if his silence was anything to go by. Because really, both of them needed a bit of time to let the situation sink in, and who cares if they’re doing it in the middle of a conversation? Not him. They could afford to wait.

Also, of _course_ Peter was with the missing teens and Shiro, just as he had been when he had first gone missing. He had been with them all this time? Well, they _had_ implied that they were in space, right?

Wait. They were in _space_?

“Where are you?”

Peter started for a second before giving a hesitant answer. “Uh, probably millions of light-years away from Earth…?”

Tony blinked. And then he blinked again.

“What.”

Because this kid had to be lying. He _had_ to be. There was no possible way to get that far from Earth in a single year. Light was the fastest thing to exist, but he had gone millions of miles further than light could in the same amount of time? It wasn’t scientifically possible, if the laws of physics were to be trusted (which they were).

However, the look on Peter’s face… he was serious about this. Despite the hesitant answer, it was clear that he was telling the truth.

Tony should know, the kid was a _terrible_ liar. He didn’t know how he was able to keep his identity from most of the people he knew, but he somehow did.

Someone was finally brave enough to speak up. “Um, do you two… know each other?”

It was Lance who had said it. He looked pointedly between Peter and Tony, waiting for one of them to answer his question.

Peter still looked unsure, so Tony volunteered to answer. “Yeah, we do.”

Pidge (or Katie, whatever her name was) spun around to glare the Peter. “You knew _Tony Stark_ and you didn’t _tell us?!_ ”

He looked a bit sheepish as he answered. “I didn’t think it was that important. And why would I bring it up anyways? There would be no reason to.”

Pidge blinked. “Oh. I guess that makes sense.” She still looked a bit disappointed though.

Shiro looked through the screen at Tony. “So… how do you two know each other?”

“Oh, the kid used to be an intern at Stark Industries.”

Pidge and Hunk looked shocked. Shiro seemed surprised as well. Lance looked pretty confused, waving his hands and demanding answers, but Tony couldn’t help but chuckle at it. His way at showing his confusion was kinda funny.

Hunk snapped out of it first. “Hang on.” He turned to Keith. “You used to be an intern for Stark Industries?”

“Yeah…”

Pidge butted in. “ _The_ Stark Industries? The one in New York? The one that _Tony Stark_ is in charge of?!”

“Didn’t he _just_ say that I did?”

Pidge sighed. “Well, yeah but…”

Ok, _clearly_ these kids didn’t believe him. “He did work there. The kid’s smarter than he looks.”

Shiro nodded, smiling warmly. “Yeah, he definitely is.”

Pidge and Hunk had now gone together, whispering about something. He took this chance to talk to Peter more before they started bombarding him with demands for juicy info.

“So… what happened?”

Peter sighed. “A lot. A lot happened.” A ghost of a smile haunted his face, and Tony knew that it really wasn’t as bad as he had implied.

Tony laughed. “Ok, you can tell me later, but I was wondering about one thing… What’s Voltron? Is that what you’ve been doing since you’ve been gone?”

The kid’s eyes lit up a little. “Yeah. You wouldn’t believe it. Voltron is a huge robot. I mean, as-tall-as-Avengers-Tower tall. Actually, it was one of the parts of the lion that led us here.”

“A part?”

“Yeah, Voltron is split up into five parts, each one resembling a lion. They’re all robot ships of their own, actually.”

“Wait, does that mean they can go faster than the speed of light?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t believe it either to be honest…”

 

* * *

 

Tony smiled as he finally said goodbye to the Paladins of Voltron and  the Guardians of the Galaxy.

To say that he had been surprised would be the understatement of the century.

To see Peter again… to _talk_ to him again… It was more relieving than he thought it would be.

It had been like nothing had happened, as if they hadn’t seen each other in over a year.

Peter always seemed to have that effect on him, it seems. The kid sure knew how weave a story.

Heh.

The web-hero has told him some of what had been happening, of the lions and the fight against these Galra alien people.

And Tony had gotten the reason Peter wasn’t at the Garrison.

Apparently, Peter had had a feeling that, while something had happened to the Kerberos team, they were still alive. Or at least, he didn’t believe the bullshit story the Garrison had told the world.

He felt as if they weren’t even going to try to find out what happened. So if they weren’t, he would investigate himself.

Which is why he pretended to be an emo kid who finally went aggro against one Iverson.

Tony scoffed. He would have _loved_ to see the the man’s face when that had happened.

Either way, no matter what happened, Tony was ultimately relieved to see that Peter was alive and well. He trusted the kid to be able to care for himself, but that didn’t mean he didn’t worry. Sometimes he was too reckless for his own good.

Well. Since they both had a way to communicate to each other, he was going to get Peter to spill all the beautiful, science-y details.

And he’d release it as his own work, of course. No one else would be there to claim it as their own, after all.

His good mood vanished as he heard Director Fury’s angry voice echo through the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, sorry if it wasn't as developed as it could've been, but it just wasn't something I was up to doing. 
> 
> If you want to see more of this (like the other side), you can let me know! 
> 
> Please leave a review. I want to know what you thought of this chapter. And don't forget to ask for prompts and scenarios with my fave Spidey!Keith! 
> 
> As for those who are still waiting for a prompt to be fulfilled, don't worry, those are still currently in progress, and I hope they can be finished soon. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Be sure to stick around for more! :)


	6. Into the Spiderverse: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith thought he had seen everything. Space? Check. Aliens? Check. A huge anime robot? More like five. An alternate dimension? Check that too. 
> 
> An alternate dimension with other Spider-people? Well… he supposed he could check that off too, now. *sigh*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had forgotten about Spiderverse for a while there, not gonna lie. So yeah, here’s the Spiderverse chap.
> 
> There will be multiple parts~! 
> 
> I’m still working on one of the requested chapters. In fact, I had started on it first, but I’m not really sure what direction I want to it to take, so I’m just posting another chap for now. 
> 
> Sorry if it starts off a bit slow, I’m mostly just setting the scene up. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Also, I had to make up some stuff and combine it with the little I did know about Spiderverse, so I apologize ahead of time for any inconsistencies and stuff like that. 
> 
> I don’t own Voltron: Legendary Defender or any aspect of Spider-Man, including Into the Spiderverse! :)
> 
> P.S. Endgame absolutely destroyed me, not gonna lie.

It had felt like forever since Keith had put on his Spider-man suit. 

The last time was when he had done it to surprise his friends in the Castle of Lions. He had stayed as the superhero for a while, and he had somehow kept his identity a secret the entire time. Which was an incredible feat, considering his track record of people figuring it out. 

But now, it had been… probably months since. 

He missed it, to be honest. The suit used to be his life. Keith didn’t think he was even used to being out of it, even though he hardly wore it at all anymore.

His eyes shifted to his bed. More specifically, the compartment that lied under it. Maybe…

No. He shook his head. He couldn’t risk it. But, his mind whispered to him, it’d only be for a second… it won’t be long. It won’t be long enough for anyone to see.  _ Do it _ .

Keith sighed. Right. Not like anyone was going to check in on him in the middle of the night. And so, he relented. He quickly opened the compartment and grabbed the backpack inside.

He got dressed into the suit in record time, thanks to the many times he’s had to put in on in the past with next-to-no notice. He put his current clothes inside the backpack, not really wanting to put them on the floor, as clean as it probably was.    
  
Keith stood there, in the middle of his room, and he could feel the tension in his shoulders already relaxing. Maybe it was because his body knew instinctively that the suit meant freedom and relief from the stresses of real life. 

Huh. That was nice.

The suit hugged his body comfortably, almost as if it were welcoming him. He sighed, relishing in the feeling for a minute. The feeling really didn’t last very long though. It felt like home. It felt  _ too  _ much like home. 

He hastily grabbed the backpack, definitely ready to get out of the suit now. However, as soon as he had a hand on the strap, out of literally  _ nowhere _ , something started to pull him backwards. He was able to maintain his balance (thanks spider powers), but he did stumble.    
  
Keith looked behind him and, to his horror, was some kind of weird, extremely colorful and glitchy wormhole. If it could even be  _ called  _ that. Unfortunately, he didn’t even get the chance to examine it further, as the hole suddenly increased in strength, succeeding in sweeping the poor teen off of his feet and into the unknown.

Wherever it was taking him, he had a feeling that it wouldn’t be good. Anything that ever happened to Spider-man was never good. Blame the Parker luck. 

As he was sucked in, he could see the hole close behind him, but he didn’t get to focus on that. Instead his new surroundings were a huge distraction.

All around Keith were things that he knew were beyond his comprehension. Colors and shapes and light and darkness passed before his eyes impossibly fast, none staying long enough for him to get a closer look at. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t have liked what he saw, if he could even comprehend it. 

He fell and fell and fell, and his mind grew dizzy and disoriented, and his body began to feel stretched and heavy. How long he fell, he didn't know. Time felt irrelative and null. But, to his utter relief, he saw the exit up ahead.    
  
Too bad he didn’t brace himself for impact. It would’ve been nice if he didn’t have to feel pain, he thought as he slid down the wall he had crashed into. He blamed the portal and its weird portal powers. 

He eventually scrambled up the wall, not wanting to find what lied at the bottom quite just yet. Turns out that a ledge wasn’t very far, luckily. He pulled himself up easily, and after he brushed himself off, he finally took the chance to look at his surroundings. He was prepared for anything, and he was fully expecting to so some other alien planet or something. 

Keith turned around and looked up, and  _ nothing  _ could have prepared him for what he saw. 

His breath hitched as his eyes widened. New York sprawled across his entire view, stretched into the far-off horizon. The city lights twinkled beautifully under the darkening sky, and advertisements made themselves known as they shone brightly down below.

New York. What the actual  _ quiznack _ ?! The portal took him here, of all places? Why? How? 

He was  _ so  _ confused right now. 

Keith took the backpack still in his hand and slung it over his shoulders. Well. He guessed that there were a couple of things he could do right now. 

One: he could go to Aunt May’s. Considering his position, he didn’t think he was very far from the apartment, and he was sure she might have heard something about his disappearance. He didn’t want her to worry, and he wanted to reassure her that he was safe, at least. Two: he could go to the Tower. He could easily see the large, red logo from where he was standing. He should probably tell Mr. Stark about the portal that had dropped him off; he knew that the man would be incredibly intrigued. Three: he- 

Wait wait wait.  _ Red _ ? He gave the tower a closer look. And yep, it was red. What? Did Mr. Stark get the blue one replaced with a red one?    
  
No, that didn’t seem like something he would do… Hmm… This was suspicious. Maybe he shouldn’t head there today… 

Wait a sec. Now that he looked closer at his surroundings, there was something… incredibly off. Even though the city looked the same, he noticed that there was actually a difference that he hadn’t noticed. 

The advertisements he had seen showed familiar products, but there were different names for them. Maybe they were popular knock-offs of the original, but he found it unlikely. He doubted the original companies would’ve liked fake products being advertised across one of the largest cities in the United States. Also, streets that he thought he knew were gone, replaced by buildings he didn’t know, and streets that he knew never existed definitely existed now. 

Sure, it was perfectly possible that the city had gone through some major renovations while he was gone, but… he had only been gone for a couple of years. He knew that it definitely took longer than that. And he hadn’t heard anything about it when he had left New York, and he was sure he would’ve. 

But… if this wasn’t the New York that he knew… then where  _ was  _ he, exactly? And how would he find out? 

Hmm… for now, he should probably lay low. Who knows what could happen. He quickly changed back into his regular clothes, only slightly shivering in the cool air. It was nothing he wasn’t used too. He took the fire escape down. No need to risk his identity by jumping or climbing down. Although, his identity might be the least of his worries right now. 

Keith wandered the streets. Some may have called him a genius before (though he doubted he was), but that didn’t mean that he knew what to do. In fact, he had absolutely  _ no  _ idea what to do. Which was great, really. In a New York that wasn’t New York. 

Why couldn’t his life be easy, one of these days? Really. 

The streets were sparsely lit, the bright ads and the pale lamp posts only served to cast even darker shadows. Every shady alleyway he passed was impossible to look into, covered in complete darkness. He avoided them, of course. His spider sense buzzed every time he passed by one. 

Was there usually that much crime in New York? He didn’t want to exaggerate, but it seemed that there were dangers  _ everywhere _ . Then again, if they didn’t have a Spider-Man here (wherever here was), maybe there was no reason for the crime to stop? He wouldn’t know. 

He eventually turned his attention away from the alleys and turned it towards the city itself. He had found himself in the heart of the city. There were still a lot of people out, despite the late hour. The bright lights were as bright as the sun, making the area almost as bright as daylight. However, the people seemed… disheartened. He could see the sorrow in their eyes and in their half-hearted attempts at cheering up. 

What had happened? Did something truly terrible happen enough for everyone to look like…  _ this _ ? Why was New York so sad, today? He had never seen so many people look so depressed before. 

Before he could think on it further, his stomach rumbled quietly. Oh great. He was hungry. Well, he supposed that he  _ had  _ neglected to eat dinner… He rummaged through his backpack. Aaaaaaaaand there it was! In triumph, he fished out his worn wallet. He could only hope he had some money in there. 

He opened it. Let’s see… he had a 20 dollar bill. That was more than enough! He also had a 100 dollar bill too, but that was for absolute emergencies. He always had one stashed in his bag, just in case. 

Luckily, there was… was that that old burger place? He was sure that that had shut down  _ ages  _ ago. He kinda missed the place, to be honest. Even if it wasn’t a very good burger place. Well. At least it was there now. It would be a perfect distraction. And he  _ really  _ needed a distraction. 

Keith happily walked in. The white fluorescent lights felt familiar, at the very least. The guy behind the counter looked bored as hell, even as Keith ordered his usual. He couldn’t believe that the place still had all the same stuff the other one had. Small mercies. 

He took one of the tables by the windows and sat down patiently. To pass the time, he looked through his backpack to see what he had. Might as well. He might have something useful in there. After all, it was his emergency pack. Just in case. 

You could never be too cautious. 

He had his suit, of course. There was a small first-aid kit (which might prove useful, as it always did, unfortunately), a small sewing kit (sometimes it was nice to sew his suit back up while watching the sunset from a skyscraper), a  _ ton  _ of granola bars (he always found himself hungry every once in a while; they were a good and  _ healthy  _ snack, thank you very much, and they lasted for ages, luckily), his trusty shortsword (which he had put in there as he was getting dressed in his room; it almost never left his side), his wallet (of course), some tools (he never knew when his web-shooters might break, or if he had to fix something for someone real quick; both have happened), and finally, his phone and a pair of earphones (phones were absolutely necessary in this modern age, and music was a good way to alleviate his boredom when crime decided to take a break too). There was a charger in there as well. 

Honestly, this was his emergency Spider-Man/Earth backpack, and not his emergency Voltron/space backpack. 

He had left his phone in there ever since all the Voltron stuff since he didn’t to waste the battery and he did not need to tempt himself. Keith took the phone out and turned it on. To his relief, the thing was actually completely charged, surprisingly. Did he have access to the internet? Hmm… no. It seemed that he didn’t have a wi-fi plan or whatever. Which made sense.

Ah well. At least he would still be able to use most of the apps on his phone and listen to music if he ever wanted to. Which was nice.

His number was called. Ohhhh his food was ready! 

He dug into his burger hungrily. He hummed in satisfaction; it was better than he remembered, though that might be because he hadn’t had a burger in  _ forever _ . He drank his milkshake almost in one gulp. Man, he had missed junk food. Which was probably a bad thing, considering how unhealthy it was, but he didn’t really care at the moment. 

The burger, in reality, probably wasn’t even that  _ good _ , if his memories served him right. Still, the taste was familiar in an unfamiliar place, and really, that was all he needed at the moment.

Keith would’ve never noticed the new customers coming in, but his spider sense decided that he  _ did  _ need to notice them. It buzzed in his mind, which made Keith look up with wide eyes at the people that had just come in. 

One was some middle-aged guy with messy brown hair and an unkempt face. He wore an incredibly worn-out coat and plain gray sweatpants. A bright red shirt peeked out from the coat, hardly even visible. His expression was tired-looking, and his eyes held this kind of word-weary look to them. He was just a bit… portly. The man looked kind of like those homeless people Keith would give food too whenever he swung by. 

There was a young African-American teen right behind the guy. He looked a couple of years younger than Keith himself was. He wore an unzipped, jade green jacket over a orange hoodie. Both looked kinda big on him. He wore regular jeans. His own expression seemed unsure and nervous. 

Keith felt his eyebrows furrowing as he sat there confused. Why would his sense warn him of these people, they didn’t seem like they were harmful at all, although he supposed that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover… 

But then his spied sense buzzed again, and Keith realized that this was different. It wasn’t warning him about a  _ danger _ . It was warning him that…. that… 

That these two people were  _ like him.  _

Ok, where the  _ quiznack  _ had that thought come from?! He was about to say it out loud too. That would’ve gone over incredibly well. Like, “ _ You’re like me. Oh sorry, the words just slipped out of my mouth and I have  _ no  _ idea what it means and I know that you don’t know me at all so sorry for being weird. _ ” Yeah. That’d be  _ splendid _ .

The two new people, apparently done ordering, made their way to the window seats closest to the entrance and, by extension, closest to the counter. They were… oddly silent. Weird.

Oh well. He had no idea what was so important about them (really, he didn’t), so he (hesitantly) shifted his eyes away and put his burger to his mouth again when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two suddenly jolt. 

And then they looked straight at him. 

He met their gazes with confusion and stubbornness. What the actual hell? Why were they looking at  _ him  _ now? He could see the confusion on their faces, but he could also see the realization bloom out of nowhere.

Uhhhh what had they just realized? Should he be scared? 

No, his spider sense told him. 

Keith felt that maybe he should get it checked one of these days. 

The two, more specifically the man, strided towards him, with a purpose in his step. The teen still looked a bit confused, but he seemed to be a little relieved about something. 

The man now stood in front of his table, looking at him with a strangely focused expression. Keith raised his eyebrow. What was the guy going to do?

And then the words tumbled out of his mouth. “You’re like me.  _ Us _ , I mean. You’re like  _ us _ .” He gestured to the teen who had just walked up behind him. 

_ Seriously _ ? He scoffed. “You do know that that’s an incredibly weird thing to say to someone you’ve never met, right?” He took a sip of his milkshake, slurping it to punctuate his point. He was careful to keep his face as deadpan as possible.

The two blinked in shock, and Keith couldn’t stop the vague sense of satisfaction he felt at their reactions. Ah, Spidey snark, he had missed it so.

He gestured to the bench across from him, and the two sat down, still a little stunned, but mostly out of it. The older guy took the window seat. How rude. But it seemed that the other teen was fine with it, so he didn’t mention it. 

The older guy looked at him. “So what’s  _ your _ story?” 

“Isn’t that what I should be asking  _ you _ ? You’re the one who came to me out of nowhere. Don’t I deserve an explanation?” Wow, he had gotten  _ bold  _ these last couple of years. Being Keith probably helped with that.

The guy gaped for a moment before he gestured animatedly. “No, no, you’re right. I’ll explain. But first!” He nudged the teen. “Our food’s ready.” 

The teen looked so done by that point, but he got up anyways. The older guy gave him a lazy grin as the teen cane back with a tray. He took one of the drinks and gave the rest of it to the other guy.

The guy started eating and talking at the same time. What came out of his mouth was intelligible garbage and half-chewed food. Gross. 

He could see the same emotion going across the other teen’s face, and he was glad he wasn’t the only one thinking that. 

“In English, please? I don’t think I can understand you over that whole eating thing you’re doing right now.”

The guy stopped at Keith’s words, and he slowed down his eating ever so slightly. But it was enough to understand him, at least.

“Ok, so here’s the thing. You’re from another universe, right? What am I talking about, of course you are.” He didn’t give Keith any time to answer, and he surely did not see the shock and horror that shot through him. Nope, he just kept rambling. “Anyways, I’m Peter, Peter B. Parker, and over there is a Spider-Kid, Miles or whatever his name is.” 

Keith felt the blood drain from his face. His name was  _ Peter Parker _ ? Well. That  _ would  _ explain the alternate universe thing…. 

The older Peter kept talking. “Anyways, short story is, the Peter Parker of this universe is gone, and he knew more about what happened than we do, so we’re going to retrace his steps and get the info we need to get outta here as soon as possible. Oh, and thank Wilson Fisk for that, he was the one who built the faulty interdimensional machine.” 

Keith blinked. He was a bit confused and of course a little overwhelmed at the situation. This was definitely not how he thought his day would go. He took a deep breath, figuring that he should introduce himself,at least. “Call me Keith, then. Keith Kogane.” Even though his actual name was also Peter Parker, he figured that it’d be easier if he just went with Keith, especially if the older guy was name Peter as well. 

He had a feeling that it would save them a lot of time.

Besides, he didn’t think he’d be able to handle being called Peter again, right now. He was so used to the name Keith at this point, it was almost kind of sad, really. 

Peter nodded. “Ok. Keith. I can work with that. Tell us your story.” He started munching on the fries and leaned back. 

“About what?”

“Your Spidey story, come  _ on _ , everyone has one. Give us the  _ deets _ .” 

“Right  _ now _ ?”

“Yes, right  _ now _ ! We don’t have a lot of time, but I need to know your experience level. Just so that I know you won’t get your butt kicked every five seconds. In the meantime, hey kid?” He turned to Miles. “Look up Alchemax for me, would ya? Thanks.”

Keith sighed. 

_ Alright people, so let’s do this one last time. _

_ My name is Keith Kogane. I was bitten by a radioactive spider when I was 15, and for the last 3 (or was it 4?) years, I was the one and only Spider-man. I guess, until now, at least.  _

_ I saved a lot of people. From, you know, the usual mugger and stuff. I got to help Iron Man fight Captain America (which was reaaaaally cool; I caught his shield), got a cool new suit, almost got a girlfriend, almost fixed a ferry with my own two hands, got grounded, learned that the girl I was taking to prom had a dad who was the Vulture (that was fun), proceeded to ditch her so that I could stop him, got a building toppled on top of me, stopped the evil bird guy, saved his life, saved the day. The girl moved away. I declined an invitation to the Avengers (though I was pretty sure it was just a test), then proceeded to meet the Avengers, freaked out, grew a mullet to get into the prodigious Galaxy Garrison, stayed there for a while before I got kicked out, lived in the desert for a year because my friend got abducted in space, and when he crashed back to Earth, proceeded to find a weird robot lion, flew millions of light years away in it, and found 4 other lions like it to form the strongest weapon in the known universe in order to stop an evil intergalactic empire from taking over even more of the universe.  _

_ A lot of stuff happened. My friend disappeared, my mom was an alien, I joined a team of rebel space assassins that she was a part of, and my friend came back, albeit suspiciously. _

_ So I was in my room, when all of a sudden a weird portal sucked me off my feet and yeeted me into a brick wall. There, I found myself in New York, but it wasn’t really New York, so I wondered without a clue what to do. Then I was hungry, so I came in here because I remembered their burgers, and then you guys came in, and here we are. _

He leaned back, finally done, and he slurped his milkshake again even though there was hardly anything left in it. 

The two across from him blinked. Yeeeeaaaah, maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned the Voltron stuff… Oh well, it was too late. They were the ones that had  _ wanted  _ to know. He was not at fault here. They were in an alternate dimension,  _ surely  _ they could accept space and aliens and super overpowered robots?

Oh good, Peter already snapped out of it, blinking the shock away. Wow, it was weird calling him that. “Wow. O- _ kay _ then.” He didn’t seem to really believe him. He turned to Miles. “So whatcha got there, kid?” 

He showed him the results of his phone. As Peter looked it over, Miles looked up at him with questioning but hopeful eyes. “You know, the Peter here had offered to teach me before, you know…” He got quiet for a second before he continued. “So, do you have any cool Spider-Man tips to give me? Some helpful advice?” 

Peter scrolled down on the phone. “Oh yeah, always disinfect the mask use baby powder whenever you’re out in the suit, especially on the joints, it will make your life much more comfortable. You don’t want chafing, do you?”    
  
“Uhhh, I guess not? Is there…. Anything else?”

Peter pretended to think for moment. “Nope, I got nothing else for you.” 

Miles gave him a deadpan looked that just screamed  _ you’re horrible _ . Keith could hear him mumble from across the table. “I think you’ll be a terrible teacher.”   


Peter either didn’t hear him or didn’t care. His eyes lit up as he found what he was looking for. “Ah-ha! The Alchemax building is in Hudson Valley, New York huh? Good thing it’s not too far. Would’ve been a pain if it was in California or something, y’know?”

Keith saw Miles perk up in what was probably excitement. “Oh, you could teach me how to swing on the way there!” He flicked out his hands Spider-Man style, making little swoosh sounds. 

Aw. How cute. Keith smirked a little. He had the feeling that Peter had the same idea, as he laughed aloud, as if Miles had said something incredibly funny. 

Perhaps he had. 

Before anyone could say anything, the guy who had been behind the counter slammed the receipt on the table, glaring at the group. He looked at Peter expectantly. Said man blinked, and then sheepishly laughed.  _ Oh no _ . 

He gave the two teens another lazy smile that hid a sheepish tone. “Any of you guys have money? I didn’t exactly carry any cash on me when I was magically portaled away from my apartment.” 

Keith sighed took out his 20 dollar bill. It would be  _ just _ enough to pay for everything. 

 

* * *

 

Keith could hear Miles groan next to him. The three of them sat in the very last seat on the bus, basically sprawled across each other as they tried to stay awake in the growing daylight. Keith knew that they were close to their destination. 

Miles got up from his lax position and tiredly stared at Peter. “Why didn’t we just swing over there? It would’ve been so much cooler and  _ way _ more exciting! And wouldn’t it be faster anyways?”

Peter gave another laugh, much smaller this time. “I’m not going to go swinging right after I had that wonderful burger breakfast. The bus means less work for me, you, everyone.” 

Miles slouched disappointedly. Keith decided to reassure him. “If we had decided to swing over there, it actually would’ve been slower. Considering how tired you guys look and how you don’t know much about swinging yet, it might’ve taken us longer than we’d like. Besides, we need to save our energy for what’s next; we might need it more then than we need it now.”    
  
He could see Miles’s eyes brighten considerably with understanding, and he nodded in confirmation. Good, that was handled for now. He hoped there would be no more complications. 

He was wrong. He was  _ always _ wrong. 

The three suited up (and thank god for the trees that surrounded them). Peter was wearing a Spider-Man outfit that seemed to have this classic look to it. It was mostly red and blue, without the black highlights on Keith’s own suit. He did wear his sweatpants over the suit, though. For some reason. Miles looked like he was wearing one of those cheap Halloween costumes, the cheap material streching as it tried to encompass Miles’s entire body. It looked a little… tight. The mask had obvious eye holes in it. He kept his Nikes on, which, ok, was a good idea, probably. 

He also wore a bright yellow cape. Miles posed next to the two of them, his cape fluttering almost impressively in the breeze. Keith saw Peter shake his head. “That’s a no on the cape.”

Miles spluttered. “But, but… it’s  _ cool _ !” 

Too bad Keith agreed with Peter. “You do know how impractical those are, right?” he should know. He had tried it when he had first gotten his spider powers. Let’s just say… it hadn’t gone very well. There was a reason why Edna in The Incredibles insisted on an outfit with no capes. All those things she had said about them were, unfortunately, true. 

The younger teen tried to retort, but Peter ripped the fabric off of his back before he could say anything. “Nope. The cape is disrespectful, you know. Spider-Man doesn’t wear capes.” 

...He wasn’t wrong.

After that debacle, the three crouched behind a large rock, and they looked over at the square Alchemax building. Peter spoke out loud, though it seemed like he was more talking to himself than to them. “So we have to retrace the other Peter’s steps? What would I do if I was here looking for information…. Ah-ha! I got it!” 

He listed the steps to his plan off, and Keith could  _ swear _ that he could see the man going through the actions as he said them. He’d sneak through a vent at the top, find the head scientist’s office, hack (download) stuff from the computer into his homemade flash drive, sneak out, take a bagel as his reward, and get the heck outta there, mission complete,  _ ta-da _ ! 

Miles was kind enough to ask the question that Keith was just about to ask himself. “What about us?” He gestured to himself and Keith with slight confusion about what their roles might be. 

Keith had a feeling he knew. 

Peter blinked, and then he enthusiastically said, “Oh, of course! I’ll need a good look out, and you two would be  _ perfect  _ for the job!” It was  _ painfully  _ obvious that they guy wanted to do it by himself.

Keith sighed. He hated it when he was right. 

Miles seemed just as peeved about it as he did, for both the same and a different reason. “How am I supposed to learn how to be Spider-Man if you don’t teach or show me? If you do, I’ll be able to help.” And the kid had a point there.

Keith decided to give his own two cents. “And I’m experienced when it comes to things like infiltration and sabotage, so shouldn’t I be able to help, at least?” The Blade of Marmora  _ was  _ a secretive rebel group, after all. 

Peter didn’t seem to hear him. “Just watch and learn, kids, I’ll be right back!” He jumped up and started to swing away, his voice echoing across the distance. “I’ll quiz you when I get back!” 

Keith and Miles watched him until they couldn’t hear him anymore. Then, Miles turned around and slid down the boulder. “Why’d we have to stick with the weird, hobo Spider-Man?” He looked absolutely exasperated. He hit the rock behind him with frustration, and it broke upon impact. He blinked in surprise. “Oh. That’s new.” 

Keith looked at the rock that Miles broke. “Spider-Man has super strength, you know.” He did the same thing Miles did on his side of the rock, and the same thing happened, albeit more rock broke apart.

Miles stared at him with wide eyes. “Wait, you’ve been Spider-Man for a while now, right?”

Keith didn’t think he liked where this was going. “Uh, yeah?” 

Miles grabbed his shoulders in overexaggerated desperation. “Then can you teach me how to be Spider-Man? Please, I need  _ someone  _ too!” 

Keith looked at him. He could see that Miles was serious. That he felt like he had an obligation to  _ be  _ Spider-Man. Probably that whole thing with the ‘dead Peter Parker had promised but he’s gone now and I really want to live up to his promise and I don’t know what to do’ thing.

He looked at the younger teenager in the eye, hoping to get his next point across. “Let me ask you this: do  _ you  _ want to be Spider-Man?” 

Miles looked a bit confused. “What do you mean? Of course I want to be Spider-Man!” 

“What I mean is that being Spider-Man is a big responsibility. You’ll never be able to enjoy your life the same way again. Being a hero is pretty stressful, so I want to make sure that you know what you’re getting into. So, are you really sure that you feel like you’re ready?” 

Miles looked down at his lap, seeming to contemplate his words. But Keith could see the tightening of his fists, the stubborn look on his face.

The younger teen returned his gaze with fire and determination, and that’s when Keith knew his answer before he could even say it aloud. 

“Yes.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a bunch for reading!
> 
> Like I said, I’m still working on one of the requested chaps, so thank you for being patient thus far! 
> 
> If anyone has anything they wanna see in future chapters, please comment and let me know! Also, you can tell me your thoughts on the chap as well. :) 
> 
> Thank you all so much for supporting this fic, it really means a lot to me, especially since this is one of my fave fics to write! Y’all are great :’)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Also, feel free to make any one-shot suggestions for this! :)


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